Why Button's motorsport journey is far from over

By:

James Newbold

Nov 17, 2020, 3:56 PM

He's now a team co-owner, but as 2009 Formula 1 world champion Jenson Button tells Autosport in an exclusive interview, his passion for driving is undiminished, with ambitions to return to the Le Mans 24 Hours - and one day drive for his own team - a key ambition

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Four years have passed since the 2016 Brazilian Grand Prix, a race that is widely remembered for Max Verstappen's charge to the podium in horrendous conditions and Felipe Nasr battling into the points to save his Sauber team, while effectively sinking the Manor squad.

Jenson Button's drive to finish 16th and last at the track where he had clinched the 2009 world championship, as McLaren team-mate Fernando Alonso salvaged a point for 10th, barely registered as a footnote. But the penultimate race of his swansong F1 season (he would return for a final time at Monaco in 2017, subbing for Alonso when the Spaniard was given permission to skip F1's grandee race for the Indianapolis 500) served as proof to Button that he'd made the right decision in stepping away after 17 years.

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James Newbold Autosport Plus Editor

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James Newbold is Autosport's Plus Editor, responsible for coordinating website feature content.

In a sign of things to come, having completed his Politics and International Relations degree at the University of East Anglia in 2015, he left his graduation ceremony early to catch the last train to Brussels for the following day's Spa 24 Hours.

After a period as a freelancer, he joined the Autosport staff in 2018 and won the Motorsport UK young journalist of the year award. He initially edited Autosport magazine's Performance and Engineering supplements before joining the website team in his current role in 2020.

A keen enthusiast of anything that can be categorised unusual or niche, he enjoys unearthing little-known stories across all branches of motorsport, but has spent most of his career covering sportscars and is a regular part of the Le Mans 24 Hours reporting team.

He lives with his wife and children in Plymouth, England.