Jenson Button sets sights on sensational return to full-time racing
2009 World Champion Jenson Button walks through the paddock.
Jenson Button is plotting a full-time return to racing in 2024, but alas it won’t be in Formula 1 with the Briton considering the World Endurance Championship or the IMSA SportsCar Championship.
Button retired from Formula 1 at the end of the 2017 season but went onto try his hand at various other series including Super GT where he spent a full season in 2019. That was his last complete campaign in a racing series.
This year the JBXE extreme E owner has been running a few races in the NASCAR Cup series where he finished 18th at the Circuit of the Americas with his schedule also including a run in Chicago followed by the road course at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
Prior to Chicago, Button joined NASCAR legend Jimmie Johnson at the Le Mans 24 Hours in NASCAR’s Garage 56 Le Mans 24 Hours Chevrolet Camaro, a favourite with the fans.
Now the Briton, 43, is considering a full-time ride for the 2024 season either the World Endurance Championship or in the IMSA SportsCar Championship.
“I didn’t think that I’d want to do a full season again, because of how busy the schedule always is, but I feel that I’ll be racing in something next year doing the full season,” the 2009 F1 World Champion said as per Motorsport.com.
“It’s great doing one-off races but you don’t get the best out of yourself, and that’s why doing three races here in Cup is really good, because I get to spend more time with the team and in the simulator and really get to work with my engineer, my crew chief to develop the skills between us and to develop an understanding.
“So, yes, I want to do a full season next year, time permitting. I need to balance a few things as I’ve been very busy this year. It will be endurance racing, which will be either IMSA or WEC.”
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He added: “Who knows what could happen in the future, whether it’s WEC, IMSA or some more NASCAR races in the future. But I’ll definitely be leaning on Jim [France] a little for that.”
But while he’s been happy bouncing around the past few seasons, also doing a one-off outing at the British GT Championship and behind the wheel of his team’s extreme E car, Button says he’s now ready to commit to one programme.
“I have jumped around doing lots of different things over the years, basically because I wanted to race in those series, and I’ve been very lucky to be able to jump into certain cars and race,” he said.
“I feel I’ve got nothing to lose. I’ve won the world championship in F1, I achieved what I set out to do. Now I’m going racing because I love racing.
“I love learning new things, and the challenges are what keeps me going, otherwise I wouldn’t be racing anymore.”
