Formula 1 world champion Jenson Button is refusing to commit to staying in the World Endurance Championship in 2025, as he hasn’t decided how long he wants to compete professionally in motorsport.
The comments mark a change in stance from the Jota driver, who previously stated he saw WEC as a two-season programme after returning to full-time competition for the first time since 2019.
Asked if he had held conversations with Jota about remaining with the team next year when it morphs into the factory Cadillac operation, Button told Motorsport.com: “We have talked, yes. So we will see.”
Pressed on whether he was positive about the outcome of those discussions, he gave a cryptic reply: “Well, it depends upon what outcome I want. I’m positive about getting the outcome I want.
“No, we will see. It’s something we are discussing.”
When questioned over whether he would like to remain in the WEC next year, he added: “Ah, that’s a different conversation. I can’t say anything more.
“I’m very proud of this team for what they did this year in such a short space and in the top category but there is much more to achieve.
“Working with a manufacturer is a big deal. A manufacturer like GM and Cadillac is big. They are there to win. The big one is Le Mans, but also the world championship as well.”
#38 Hertz Team Jota Porsche 963: Jenson Button
Photo by: JEP / Motorsport Images
Since the second of his two campaigns in the SUPER GT series in 2019, Button had made sporadic appearances in a wide variety of series, including NASCAR Cup, IMSA SportsCar Championship and Extreme E.
After competing at Le Mans last year in Hendrick Motorsports’ Garage 56 entry with a modified Chevrolet Camaro LS1 NASCAR Cup car, he signed up for the full WEC season with Jota’s expanded Porsche customer team.
The 2009 F1 champion has shown impressive progression since the start of the season in Qatar six months ago, securing a best finish of sixth at last weekend’s Fuji round with team-mates Phil Hanson and Oliver Rasmussen.
Alongside his primary commitments in WEC, he also races historic cars for leisure and was recently seen at the Monterey Motorsports Reunion in Laguna Seca.
Button, who turns 45 next year, was coy about how long he would continue to compete in top-line motorsport as a professional driver.
Quizzed about his future, he said: “I mean, I don’t know, It’s a tricky one. I have a family now, I wouldn’t want to race seriously for many more years.
“I will always race for fun. I love racing classic cars. They are very mechanical for me, I’m really enjoying that.
“So there is always going to be a racer in me who wants to carry on racing till I’m in my 50s. But that won’t be professionally.
“I’m sure you lose the edge, I don’t know. [But] it doesn’t feel like I have yet.”
Asked what will help him decide whether he wants to race next year or not, he added: “That’s it [if I want to race next year or not].”
Jota, which has so far run Porsche 963 LMDh cars on a customer basis in the Hypercar class, will take over the mantle of Cadillac’s factory WEC team from Chip Ganassi in 2025.
The British outfit will be entering two examples of the Cadillac V-Series.R LMDh in the series, and Motorsport.com understands that there will be room for three non-GM drivers in the line-up.
Source : Motorsport.com