According to the fallout of Jenson Button's move to McLaren, the world champion was offered a £12 million a year deal by Brawn, which was removed after the Brit's visit to McLaren's HQ breached his contract with the champions.
Brawn team personnel reacted with shock at Button's tour of the McLaren base in Woking last Friday, which was apparently a clear breach of his existing contract with Brawn. According to a report in the Daily Express, this led to the initial deal being rescinded.
The contract in place would have seen Button make £8 million in basic salary, with up to an extra £4 million available in various points bonuses throughout the year. This was a figure back near Button's initial level with the Honda team, and if accurate is over twice the reported £4 million figure discussed in the press before Button's move.
“I was very disappointed at the way things finished up with Jenson,” was all that Ross Brawn had to say on the matter, after it was revealed that Button's management initially put a £22.5 million starting price on the Brit's salary during negotiations with the champion team.
The extra information about the behind-the-scenes negotiating seems to have been leaked out after Brawncedes bosses became angry at the way that the media was portraying the situation as Button having been 'forced out' of the team by Mercedes, who preferred the idea of two German drivers for 2010.
Meanwhile, Nick Fry has confirmed that Button will not be allowed to join McLaren until the end of 2009, as per his existing contract with Brawn. This move is not unique in driver moves, Williams and Nico Rosberg have a similar situation this winter for example, but predictably, the move has drawn headlines in the UK over the newly-German Brawn team's 'bitterness'.
The move by Brawn means that Button will not be able to begin working with McLaren until January 1st 2010.
"Jenson will not be doing anything at all for McLaren until the end of this calendar year," Brawn chief executive Nick Fry determinedly said, "And if he does, we will be looking on it very dimly.
"He didn't have any obligations to us for 2010, but there are issues with regards to the signing process on which we are in discussion with him at the moment."
He added that: "There are clear constraints on what Jenson can do between now and the end of the year, which we will be rigorously enforcing."
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