F1 champion to end 28-year full-time racing career

2009 Formula 1 world champion Jenson Button has confirmed that he will not possess a full-time race seat next year, marking the end of a 28-year full-time racing career. 

The Briton is currently racing for Cadillac Hertz Team JOTA in the World Endurance Championship (WEC), but will relinquish his seat at the end of the season. 

Button's full-time racing career starting in 1998, where the Briton competed in Formula Ford, before moving onto Formula 3 a year later. 

His F1 debut came in 2000 for Williams, before enjoying a career in the pinnacle of motorsport which spanned 17 seasons in a full-time seat. He secured the title with Brawn GP in 2009, in what is one of the greatest stories in the history of the series.

Across that time, Button started 306 races and was victorious on 15 occasions. Button's final F1 race was the 2017 Monaco Grand Prix, where he stood in for Indy 500-tied Fernando Alonso at McLaren.

Since calling it a day in F1, Button has raced in various other championships, although most of his recent appearances have come in WEC. 

Whilst he has confirmed that one-off appearances will be made next year, a full-time seat will not be held.

"Life has got too busy," said Button, as quoted by Sportscar365. "There’s so many different things going on.

"It’s about time I start thinking about the future a little bit more. I want to spend more time with my family as well.

"It’s a very busy schedule I have and it’s unfair as well to the team. I probably don’t have enough time to give to it, especially next year."

Addressing one-off appearances in 2026, Button said: "I’ll be racing in some things next year, but not a full season."