Brawn GP Won't Cut Button Loose Early

WOKING, U.K. — Jenson Button's move from Brawn GP (now Mercedes Grand Prix) will have to wait until his one-year contract expires on December 31.

Button was confirmed in his new ride with McLaren Wednesday. He replaces Heikki Kovalainen in the second McLaren car and will partner with 2008 champion Lewis Hamilton.

The new owners of Brawn are engine suppliers for McLaren, but Nick Fry, CEO of the Mercedes team, said "there are issues with regards to the signing process" still being discussed, but emphasized Button would not be released early.

"There are clear constraints on what Jenson can do between now and the end of the year, which we will be rigorously enforcing," Fry said.

Button and Brawn had a storybook season in 2009. The former Honda team, left in limbo when the Japanese manufacturer abruptly announced it was quitting F1 in December, was not confirmed as an entrant until literally weeks before the beginning of the season. Team principal Ross Brawn acquired ownership and put together a deal with Mercedes-Benz for engines.

Button won the season opener, the first of six victories in the first seven races, and went on to the world driving championship for himself and the constructor crown for Brawn.

Mercedes Grand Prix now faces the task of hiring two drivers. Rubens Barrichello departed at season's end for a new ride with Williams. Meanwhile, McLaren will have the first lineup of double world champions since 1989, when Alain Prost and Ayrton Senna also drove for McLaren.

Inside Line says: This development is hardly new territory for Jenson, whose entrance to F1 was marked by contractual disputes as he moved from Williams to Benetton to BAR, which eventually evolved into Brawn GP. The hard-line attitude of his former employer suggests this latest career move is not without a measure of acrimony. — David Green, Correspondent