Jenson Button bows out of racing with helmet designed by his late father
Jenson Button will race with his very first helmet design for his final professional motor race this weekend.
Jenson Button will sign off from his professional racing career with a helmet design created by his late father, John.
Button is calling time on his time as a professional racing driver this weekend at the season finale of the 2025 World Endurance Championship in Bahrain.
Jenson Button signs off on racing career with throwback helmet
Button recently confirmed to BBC Radio Somerset, his local radio station, that this weekend’s round of the World Endurance Championship in Bahrain will bring down the curtain on a 40-year motor racing career.
Nine years on from the conclusion of his last full season in F1, Button has remained active as a racing driver with outings in Japan’s Super GT, where he won the championship in 2018, IMSA, Extreme E, British GT, DTM, and the WEC.
Taking on full-time seasons in WEC with Jota in 2024 and ’25, Button and his teammates recently scored a podium finish at the Sao Paulo round, but he will not continue in the series next season.
Confirming a desire to spend time with his young family, as the 45-year-old has two children, Button highlighted the busy nature of his home life and the fact that he no longer wishes to sacrifice time away from his children for a busy motor racing schedule.
Ahead of his final race, Button has revealed a striking helmet design for the 8 Hours of Bahrain, which harkens back to his earliest days of motor racing.
While Button made his mark with a striking Union Jack design upon his arrival in F1 with Williams in 2000, the British driver will call back to his childhood with the helmet design created by his late father, John Button.
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Nicknamed ‘Papa Smurf’ in the paddock, Button’s father was an immensely popular character in the sport, and was an ever-present figure of support for his son throughout his F1 career, and was by his side all through Button’s legendary 2009 campaign to claim a fairytale World Championship victory.
John Button passed away outside his home in January 2014.
“So here she is,” Button posted on social media, sharing images of a predominantly black helmet, with yellow accents.
“In memory of my first ever helmet design incorporating a bit of my current.
“Back in the day, when your helmet designer was your dad!”
Sharing a picture of himself in a kart as a child, his father kneeling beside him, Button said, “My dad said he designed my original helmet in black with yellow horns to scare the other kids! 🤣”
Button received his first kart as a Christmas present in 1987, with his father having been a racer himself, before embarking on a karting programme at the age of eight.
He raced in top-level karting championships between 1991 and ’97, before climbing into single-seaters in 1998.
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