Button to leave Brawn GP after Mercedes buy-out

In a move that is likely to see Jenson Button heading for the exit at Brawn GP, the Formula 1 team has been bought by Mercedes. The German carmaker will purchase three-quarters of Brawn, the team formed in March 2009 from the ashes of Honda, in partnership with Aabar Investments, an investment company from Abu Dhabi. Team principal Ross Brawn and chief executive Nick Fry will also own 24.9 per cent of the outfit.

The team, which will be renamed Mercedes Grand Prix, is likely to be made up of two German drivers - Nico Rosberg has already been signed up, and he could be joined by Nick Heidfeld or Timo Glock - which means that Button's long-mooted transfer to McLaren should go through in the next few days. Curiously, the German company will continue to be the engine supplier to McLaren until 2015, but Ron Dennis's team is going to buy out Mercedes' 40 per cent stake in it by 2011.

Commenting on the news, Ross Brawn said: "Brawn GP has been through an incredible journey over the last 12 months. From fighting for our survival to forging a strong relationship with Mercedes-Benz High Performance Engines, winning both the constructors' and drivers' world championships, and now accepting Daimler and Aabar's offer to buy our team, which will secure its future."

Button will join his predecessor as world champion and compatriot Lewis Hamilton at McLaren in a team that could sweep all before them in the 2010 season - or equally could prove to be a titanic clash of egos. In the past such combinations as Ayrton Senna and Alain Prost have raced together and been torn apart by the demands of such high octane personalities - ironically enough at McLaren in the 1988 season. ·