Jenson Button wants to get back to business in 2018, but he has no intention of returning to Formula One.
Button told RACER on Friday that he is looking to return to full-time competition in 2018, and has various options in Japan, Europe and North America. One series he’s particularly interested in is the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship, specifically its Daytona Prototype international class.
“I love the fact that they all get the same — well, there’s a selection of tubs that they can race with and they can make it their own with their aerodynamic package and power unit,” Button said, “and there’s a few manufacturers racing there and that’s great and it’s definitely a growing motorsport in America.”
The 2009 F1 world champion is under contract with McLaren through 2017, but he took a sabbatical this season, claiming he stayed in the series one year too many and fell out of love with motorsport. After driving a Honda NSX-GT in the Suzuka 1000km, however, Button reportedly has been “itching to drive anything.”
That said, the 37-year-old racer is hesitant to compete in IMSA’s GT Le Mans class. GTLM and DPi cars have a 20-second speed differential, and given that Button has no experience in multi-class racing, it would present him with an entirely new challenge.
“The GT category is great but I’m not sure I could be in a car being overtaken by the DPi cars,” Button said. “That’s something I can’t get my head around.”
Apart from a one-off F1 start at the Monaco Grand Prix, and the Super GT race at Suzuka Circuit, Button hasn’t raced at all this year. In January, he stirred rumors that he would compete in Red Bull Global Rallycross when he completed a test for Honda Olsbergs MSE, but ultimately nothing came of that.
Thumbnail photo via Honda Racing
