Jenson Button’s 15-year Formula One career will end at the final race of the season in Abu Dhabi on November 23.
Sportsmail understands that McLaren will bring in double world champion Fernando Alonso to replace the Briton with an announcement imminent.
Button, 34, has waited for months in the hope that his rookie team-mate Kevin Magnussen would be the one to make way if Alonso signed but McLaren principal Eric Boullier believes that 22-year-old Magnussen will complement Alonso better than Button.
An insider said: ‘Eric thinks the drivers must fit together rather than having two No 1 drivers. That is bad news for Jenson.’
Button, who flew into Sao Paulo, Brazil on Wednesday for this weekend’s penultimate race of the season, has said he does not want to move to a lesser team to prolong a career that has yielded 15 victories.
He has raced in 264 grands prix, more than any contemporary.
Button’s first victory came at the 113th attempt, in Hungary in 2006, and he won the world title with Brawn in 2009 before moving to McLaren.
There, he embellished his reputation as a formidable talent, particularly in the wet.
He briefly considered whether to stop racing at the start of this season after the death of his father John. He has since worn a pink helmet to recall the colour of the shirt John wore on race days.
Button may now follow his friend Mark Webber, the former Red Bull driver, into sports cars and the Le Mans-style World Endurance Championship.
Button’s manager Richard Goddard said recently: ‘Jenson is too good to sit at the back of the grid, so if McLaren haven’t got a seat for him, he would look elsewhere.
It is thought Button has held advanced talks with Webber’s Porsche team.
McLaren opened preliminary talks with Alonso, generally considered the sport’s most complete driver, a year ago and revived their interest when it became apparent that Sebastian Vettel was about to replace the Spaniard at Ferrari.
With the other leading teams, Red Bull and Mercedes, having their driver line-ups settled, Alonso had little choice but to plump for McLaren despite the rancorous year he spent there in 2007.
He initially sought a one-year deal to give himself an escape route but Boullier insisted on Alonso signing a two-year contract with an option on a third, and that has now been agreed.
From Dailymail
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