LONDON, ENGLAND - THE mouth-watering prospect of a Formula One "Dream Team" may just come true.

Reigning champion Jenson Button has reportedly agreed on terms to join McLaren on a £6 million (S$14 million)-a-year deal and join forces with last year's winner, Lewis Hamilton.

The 29-year-old Button could sign his formal three-year contract to partner Hamilton in a blockbuster, all-British line-up within the next few days, reported The Guardian.

He has apparently turned his back on Brawn GP, this year's constructors' champion, following protracted negotiations and will almost double his salary with McLaren.

Although neither the team nor Button's management would confirm the deal on Monday, sources close to McLaren hinted: "I think Jenson liked what he saw and they liked him too."

In switching to McLaren, Button will be going against advice from F1 greats, including Stirling Moss, Jackie Stewart and Niki Lauda, all of whom feel that he might be biting off more than he can chew by taking on Hamilton on his home turf in equal cars.

But for Button, the prospect of going head-to-head with a close friend and the man regarded by many in the pit lane as possibly the fastest of all will just be part of the challenge of defending his title.

It is unlikely that either Hamilton, who earns about £12 million a year at McLaren, or his father, Anthony, who has managed last year's champion since his days as a teenage kart racer, would have been consulted on this, beyond the normal deployment of good manners.

McLaren have always had the resources and philosophy required to field two fully-competitive cars, and have always sought the strongest driver line-ups they could engage.

The decision by Button to leave the team built from the ashes of Honda by Ross Brawn came on the day it was officially announced that Mercedes-Benz had switched allegiances from McLaren and purchased a controlling interest in Brawn GP. They will field their cars under the Mercedes banner next year.

It had been widely thought that Button would remain with the team alongside Nico Rosberg, the preferred Mercedes nominee, next year.

But there are suggestions that Button was never at the top of the Mercedes wish list.

The Telegraph reported that it had already ruled out increasing its £4 million-a-year offer for Button, and is apparently in talks to bring in BMW's Nick Heidfeld as his replacement.

Under the arrangements finalised yesterday, McLaren will have the facility of using Mercedes engines up to 2015 if they wish.

McLaren and Mercedes have gone their separate ways because of conflicting interests in the high-performance road-car arena.

But, out on the racing circuits, the British team remain potentially a formidable winning machine.

Button knows this and that is why he could be driving one of their cars next season.

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