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Jenson Button says McLaren CEO Ron Dennis convinced him to take a year-long sabbatical from Formula One in 2017 rather than a fully-fledged retirement from the sport. McLaren announced in Monza that Button would be taking a year off from racing next season to work with the team behind the scenes in an ambassador role, while promoting Stoffel Vandoorne into a race seat alongside Fernando Alonso. Button's deal means he can return to a drive for 2018 if McLaren opts to drop either Vandoorne or Alonso. When asked if he had any plans to race outside of F1 during his year out, the 2009 world champion replied: "No because my goal isn't to race next year, my aim is not to be racing again but in six months I might want to go racing again." He added: "The idea of speaking to Ron in Spa was to retire, and he changed my mind to stay rather than what it said on the front of F1 Racing [magazine]. The reason why I'm not racing is because Ron said I should take a year out, it was the other way round. So it's a shame but there you go." The Briton has competed in every grand prix since the turn of the century, recording 15 wins and 50 podiums, but has not claimed a victory since the 2012 Brazilian Grand Prix following McLaren's struggles in recent seasons, particularly since it returned to Honda power in 2015. Button believes that 2011 -- in which he took three wins and finished runner-up to Sebastian Vettel in the championship -- was his best year at the Woking-based team. "I think so, I mean I think I've been pretty unlucky this year. I've enjoyed this year and felt that I did a good job, but it's amazing how luck doesn't go your way for quite a few races in this season. But 2011 was a fun year because the cars were awesome. "With the blown diffuser, we all loved it because there was so much down force but that suits me more than rolling around with low grip. So [Mexico] probably won't be one of the better circuits for my driving style but we'll see."
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