McLaren gave their rivals something to chew over on Tuesday as Jenson Button kicked off Formula One's pre-season testing with a lap comfortably quicker than anyone else's.
BAR said they took the decision to take up the option on Button's contract on July 20 and informed the driver's management team.
Sebastian Vettel put himself on pole position for a second successive Formula One title on Saturday after Red Bull won a race against time to get his car up to speed at the Japanese Grand Prix.
Formula One championship leader Lewis Hamilton is certain the in-fighting affecting rivals Red Bull could never happen at McLaren despite teammate Jenson Button lying just behind him in second spot.
Kimi Raikkonen's engine caught fire on Friday, forcing him to replace the unit and start Sunday's race 10 places down from wherever he qualifies on Saturday.
The Honda driver suffered two hairline cracks to his ribs while go-karting.
Jenson Button seized pole position for the season-opening Australian Grand Prix on Saturday in a fairytale front row sweep for his new Brawn GP team. Brazilian team mate Rubens Barrichello will line up alongside in Sunday's race in a remarkable turnaround for a team who were fighting for their Formula One survival earlier this year.
However, McLaren's David Coulthard warned Button not to be under any illusions.
McLaren's Jenson Button celebrated his 200th Formula One start by winning the Hungarian Grand Prix on Sunday after a thrilling race decided by tyre choices in the slippery, wet conditions.
McLaren's Jenson Button celebrated his 200th Formula One start by winning the Hungarian Grand Prix on Sunday after a thrilling race decided by tyre choices in the slippery, wet conditions.
McLaren's Jenson Button celebrated his 200th Formula One start by winning the Hungarian Grand Prix on Sunday after a thrilling race decided by tyre choices in the slippery, wet conditions.
Formula One world champion Jenson Button timed his pitstop to perfection to chalk up his first win for McLaren in a rain-affected and entertaining Australian Grand Prix on Sunday.
Championship leader Jenson Button put himself on pole position for a fourth win in five races on Saturday after a last-gasp duel with Red Bull's Sebastian Vettel at the Spanish Grand Prix.
Formula One team boss Ross Brawn has advised world champion Jenson Button that he would do best to stay with him next season rather than jumping to rivals McLaren.
Jenson Button and his Brawn GP team were crowned Formula One champions on Sunday in a Brazilian Grand Prix won by Red Bull's Australian Mark Webber.
Jenson Button's body language after the first day of Formula One testing on Tuesday spoke happily of a new McLaren that was everything last year's car was not.
Jenson Button is relishing Sunday's Hungarian Grand Prix, as the McLaren driver returns to the site of his first-ever victory for the 200th race of his Formula One career.
Michael Schumacher of Germany, driving a Ferrari, has won the San Marino Formula One Grand Prix.
World champion Jenson Button put Formula One firmly ahead of his love life on Saturday after fending off awkward questions about breaking up with his lingerie model girlfriend.
Michael Schumacher was second and Narain Karthikeyan 17th on the start grid for Sunday's Canadian GP.
McLaren can deny Red Bull's Formula One leader Sebastian Vettel a fourth straight win, Jenson Button said at the Indian Grand Prix on Thursday.
Jenson Button can take his revenge on Red Bull's Sebastian Vettel in front of the German's home fans at the Nuerburgring this weekend, and also restore some pride to Mercedes. Brawn GP's championship leader was well beaten by the 22-year-old Vettel on his home turf at Silverstone last month and is eager to turn the tables on the only other driver to have won races this season.
The reigning F1 world champion Jenson Button has hinted at a sensational switch to McLaren next season, after talks with Brawn GP were stalled.
Jenson Button was almost a write-off before he seized the Formula One title with Brawn last year and he starts the new season with critics again ready to scrap his chances.
Sebastian Vettel drove a superb race to win the Belgian Grand Prix ahead of Mark Webber as Red Bull enjoyed a one-two at Spa-Francorchamps.
The 26-year-old Honda driver ended his long wait, triumphant at last in his 113th start, at the Hungarian Grand Prix.
Lewis Hamilton says he would welcome Jenson Button or anyone else as his McLaren team-mate next year.
Ferrari's Felipe Massa can chalk up his fourth win in a row in Turkey this weekend and stop Formula One leader Jenson Button doing the same. Massa has won the last three Turkish Grand Prix from pole position, while Brawn GP's Button is on a more immediate roll, having won five of six races so far this season and the last three in succession.
Jenson Button is relishing the prospect of climbing into the Formula One world champion's number one car for the first time this week.
The desert heat will make Brawn GP hard to beat in Bahrain on Sunday after losing out to Red Bull in a wet Chinese race last weekend, Formula One championship leader Jenson Button said on Thursday. Button, winner of the first two races of the season in Australia and Malaysia, struggled to get heat into his tyres in Shanghai and finished third behind Red Bull's Sebastian Vettel and Mark Webber.
Lewis Hamilton, once the young sensation of Formula One, is starting to feel his age as a new generation of drivers sweeps into the sport and old hands like Jenson Button and Felipe Massa head for the exit.
Already accused of buckling under the pressure, Formula One leader Jenson Button has the added strain of racing against a fired-up Giancarlo Fisichella at Monza on Sunday. Champions Ferrari made one of Fisichella's dreams come true when they drafted in the Roman as a replacement for compatriot Luca Badoer, himself standing in for injured Brazilian Felipe Massa, last week.
Jenson Button will sit down to discuss a new contract with his Brawn team just as soon as he has got rid of his hangover from winning the Formula One championship.
Spain's double World champion Fernando Alonso and Britain's Jenson Button will drive for McLaren next season, the Formula One team announced on Thursday.
Victory at Silverstone on Sunday would mean more to Jenson Button than anyone on the Formula One starting grid but his championship-leading McLaren teammate Lewis Hamilton has no intention of letting that happen.
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