Jenson Button will become the third driver to start 300 Formula One races when he competes in the Malaysian Grand Prix on Sunday and he has given the clearest indication yet he will not be seen on the grid again after this season.
Button signed a two-year contract with McLaren at the start of this month and will be replaced by Stoffel Vandoorne for 2017 while the British driver takes a sabbatical.
Ron Dennis has always hinted one of the best known faces in the paddock could return in 2018, if not before. The chairman and chief executive of McLaren said: “Retirement is not the word. Jenson will continue to be a senior, influential and committed member of the team and he’ll also be available to race for us if circumstances require it.”
Button was clearly not thinking of competing in F1 again when he said on Thursday: “The last race will probably feel quite emotional in Abu Dhabi [on 27 November]. I have no idea what I’m going to do next year, in terms of racing or what else, it’s exciting. I’m working until mid-December with sponsors.”
Asked if Liberty Media, which is in the process of buying a controlling interest in F1, had sought the advice of one of the most experienced drivers in history, Button said: “I’d gladly talk to them. I think I’d be pretty good at running the sport. It would be much better if they asked me directly. If they did I would be more than willing to give them my thoughts.”
Button never thought he would still be competing in his mid-30s: “I remember when I started in 2000, speaking to my dad, and he said: ‘How long do you think are you going to race for? Do you think you are going to race in your 30s?’ And I said I would be done by the time I am 30 but here I am, 36, and this weekend I start my 300th grand prix.”
The other members of the 300 club are Rubens Barrichello (322) and Michael Schumacher (306). “When Rubens got to 300 it was unbelievable and I thought I am never going to race that long,” he said. “It means I have been around for a hell of a long time. It definitely sucks you in, Formula One. It doesn’t let go for a long time, as long as you are performing. So it’s been a great ride to 300, a very exciting career to this point, and if any of these guys can achieve it around me, fair play to them, because it’s a long time doing the same thing.”
Button said his worst moment came at the end of 2008 when his Honda team quit F1. “I didn’t know if I would be racing in 2009.” The Briton won his one world title that year, racing for Brawn GP. He highlighted Suzuka 2011 as his best race, Monaco 2003 as his worst crash and David Coulthard as the best friend he made among F1 drivers.
Fernando Alonso described Button as “the best team-mate I’ve had”. The double-world champion added: “He is very fast. He is very competitive inside the car, always and in all conditions, but outside the car as well he is a very nice guy, a true gentleman, and also very committed to the sport.
“He’s always running in the simulator, working with the team, spending whatever time is necessary with the engineers, being 100% physically all year long. As a package I think he’s the best.”