• McLaren news

Button waits for McLaren deal

Jenson Button says he is happy at McLaren © Sutton Images

Enlarge

Related Links

• Drivers:
• Jenson Button

• Teams:
• McLaren

Jenson Button says he wants to stay at McLaren next season, and that he is just waiting for the team to take up the option on his contract.

Button is the only driver at McLaren, Red Bull or Ferrari who does not have a confirmed seat for 2012 as his current contract only includes the option for a further year which must be activated. When asked when he would be signing a new deal, Button told Sporting Life that it was just a matter of team principal Martin Whitmarsh telling him that he is to be retained.

"Well, if he (Whitmarsh) takes up the option..." Button said. "All he has to do is say yes, and I will say yes because I want to be here next year. It's up to the team as to when they approach me, but for me I'm the happiest I've been with the car."

After an impressive drive through the field to third place in Belgium, Button climbed above team-mate Lewis Hamilton in the driver's standings after Hamilton crashed out overtaking Kamui Kobayashi. With Whitmarsh defending Hamilton's record, Button said that his team-mate was just unlucky, and that the heightened chances of an accident were a result of the current championship situation.

"I had some pretty bad luck through Valencia, Silverstone and the Nurburgring, and he is getting it now," added Button. "It's tough on both of us. It would be nice to go through a whole season without any of that, but sometimes you can't. Keeping your nose clean is important, obviously, when you are fighting for a championship.

"But in the position that Lewis, myself, Mark (Webber) and Fernando (Alonso) are in, we don't have the luxury of just keeping our noses clean and getting good points. We have to fight for it. That is especially the case when Saturday doesn't go as planned, or the first corner doesn't go as planned, you have to fight your way through. But sometimes it ends with you getting your nose chopped off, or ending up in a barrier, which is not nice, but the way it has to be."

© ESPN Sports Media Ltd.