Jenson Button will be at McLaren in 2012 and beyond, that’s guaranteed, according to team principal Martin Whitmarsh.
The 2009-world champion only has a contract until the end of the current season, but he has continually expressed an interest in staying with the team after recently announcing he’s the happiest he’s ever been in the sport.
“I can guarantee you that he [Button] will be with us next year,” said Whitmarsh on Friday in Monza.
Whilst a single-year contract has been mentioned on numerous occasions, the 53-year-old is hopeful of a much longer deal which could see Button at the Woking based team until 2016.
“We both want to work together for a long period of time. It’s a non-issue,” he added.
When pressed on how long and if a four to five year deal was realistic, Whitmarsh replied: “In an ideal world.
“The nature of a contract is not something we are going to talk about publicly.
“We’re just talking about it. [At the moment] I don’t think there’s any rush to go to a single year contract.”
