Jenson Button confirms pro racing retirement with one last race

The final round of the World Endurance Championship has gained further significance, via its special connection to the career of 2009 Formula 1 World Champion Jenson Button.

That is because Button has confirmed that the 8 Hours of Bahrain will be his final race with the Jota team, and as a professional racing driver. With life having got “way too busy” as other projects emerge, the 45-year-old has decided that it is time.

Jenson Button prepares for final professional race

Button will forever be fondly remembered for his role in the iconic Brawn GP story. He claimed his sole Drivers’ Championship with the team – born from the ashes of Honda – in 2009, the year which Brawn also won the Constructors’ crown. It proved their only year of existence, with Mercedes taking over the team from 2010.

In more recent years, Button has turned his focus to endurance racing, and this form of competition will host his final professional race, as the 8 Hours of Bahrain takes place on 8 November.

Speaking via BBC Radio Somerset, Button said: “We’re still fighting as a team for the Constructors’ Championship. We’re still in the hunt for the win, which is obviously very difficult, but P2, is attainable.

“There’s a lot to look forward to in Bahrain, and it being my last race… I’ve always liked Bahrain. I think it’s a fun track, and I’m going to enjoy it as much as I can, because this will be the end of my professional racing career.”

He added: “But I’m happy about it. I mean, it wasn’t that difficult [to decide], to be fair.

“I’ve really enjoyed my time with Jota in WEC. But, you know, my life just got way too busy. And it’s not fair. It’s not fair on the team, or on myself, really, to go into 2026 and think that I’m going to have enough time for it, because it takes up a lot of time racing in WEC.

“These cars are so complicated. The meetings you have about meetings, about meetings. It is very, very busy.

“So I won’t have the time to really put into the championship, which is unfair on the team, and you want to get the best out of yourself always, and you need to commit 100 per cent and I can’t do that next year. There’s a lot going on with other work, fun work, but also just businesses that I’m involved with. So, it’s a tough one.”

Button stressed that he “can’t thank Jota enough” for the opportunity which they gave him in WEC, but now that his professional retirement looms, a familiar feeling has returned for the Brit, who made his final F1 grand prix start in 2017.

“It’s kind of like when I retired from F1,” he said. “I love F1, it was big part of my life, but having a bit more freedom to go and do a little bit more of what I want was cool, and kind of refreshing.

“And it’s again, that feeling, after racing in WEC.”

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Despite his professional racing retirement, Button is not completely finished at the wheel.

“Next year is obviously different,” he said. “I will still race, but in things that I can pick and choose.

“I’ve obviously got classic cars that I love to race, and for me, it’s exciting, because it’s mine, a car that I own. And also I love the mechanical aspect. It’s very different to the cars I race in WEC and F1. You’re really connected to it, which I love, with having to heel and toe and get the gear shift just right, and no aero. It’s all mechanical. It’s really cool.

“And a lot of the time when I’m racing, I’m racing against very talented drivers from the world of WEC, British Touring Cars. It’s a real mix, especially the Goodwood meeting. So I’ll be doing a bit of that, which I’m looking forward to.”

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