By Andrew Benson
**Jenson Button is on the verge of signing to join Lewis Hamilton in an all-English line-up at McLaren.**BBC Sport understands McLaren is the favoured option for Button, the reigning world champion, but that he has not yet agreed terms on a contract.
Likewise, Button has moved to the top of McLaren’s wish list of drivers.
Button’s former team Brawn, who have been taken over by Mercedes, have made Button an offer, but the 29-year-old does not consider it acceptable.
A source close to McLaren said Button met with the team for further negotiations on Monday evening, in the wake of the Mercedes/Brawn announcement.
As Button’s McLaren contract is not a done deal, it is not absolutely certain that he will join the team for 2010, but it is the most likely scenario.
If he joins up, McLaren would be fielding the last two world champions in the same team, Hamilton having won the drivers’ title in 2008.
McLaren are believed to be offering him a salary in the region of £7-8m - about double the offer made by Brawn/Mercedes.
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“You would not find many people in F1 who fancied Button’s chances of beating Hamilton in the same car”
But Button’s preference for McLaren is not solely to do with money, according to sources. He also believes it is the best option for his career.
After a poor start to the 2009 season, McLaren came back strongly in the second half of the year, while Brawn, after dominating the first third of the season, slipped back in competitiveness as the year went on.
Button’s manager Richard Goddard was unavailable for comment.
Brawn emerged from the ashes of the former Honda team, after the Japanese company pulled out of F1 last winter.
Button took a pay cut last winter to help secure the team’s future and they went on to win the world championship together in Brawn’s debut season.
Chief executive Nick Fry said the takeover by Mercedes, confirmed on Monday, would not change the offer they had made Button.
“We’ve had discussions with Jenson over what we think is a sensible salary and this deal is not going to change anything in that respect,” Brawn chief executive Nick Fry told BBC Radio 5 live.
"I hope Jenson will be with us as we’ve been together for a good few years, but F1 is not divorced from the rest of the world.
“The reason we’ve survived as a team is that we have operated in our means.”
Now renamed Mercedes Grand Prix, the team have already signed the German Nico Rosberg as one of their drivers.
Mercedes sports boss Norbert Haug has said the team are in talks with Button, but has also spoken positively about German former BMW Sauber driver Nick Heidfeld, a former Mercedes protege.
In its official statement about taking over Brawn, Mercedes emphasised its desire to keep costs under control at its new team.
This may be one of the reasons why the company is reluctant to increase its offer to Button.
The subsequent bad publicity that would be expected to follow if they let the world champion slip through their fingers might be eased in their home country of Germany if they sign another German driver.