Jenson Button on 'emotional' final race in motorsport career ahead of WEC Bahrain 8 Hours
- DIVEBOMB Endurance Team
- 8 hours ago
- 5 min read
Written by Owen Bradley
Jenson Button will retire from professional racing after this weekend's WEC Bahrain 8 Hours. The 2009 Formula One World Champion spoke to DIVEBOMB Motorsport about his decision to finally hang up the helmet, as we reflect on the Brit's remarkable career.
Button revealed exclusively to DIVEBOMB: “This race will be very emotional. I’ve had a very long career in professional racing and didn’t think I’d still be racing at 45 years old. With 18 cars fighting for the win, you never know what will happen, and that’s what makes the WEC so special."
Jenson Button has had an illustrious career in motorsport, and has one of the most unique, incredible and unlikely stories ever told within the sport. From strong potential, to being let down by multiple racing teams, to becoming an F1 World Champion in the most dramatic and unlikely way, this is the story of legendary British driver, Jenson Button.
After making his debut in Formula One with Williams during the Australian Grand Prix in 2000, a young Button would be forced to endure a tough start to his F1 career. During his rookie season, the Brit showed strong potential, finishing fourth in the German Grand Prix and qualifying third for the Belgian Grand Prix. Ultimately, Button showed solid pace and decent racecraft in his first season, and finished eighth in the championship.
After a relatively unsuccessful stint with Bennetton/Renault, eventually Button found himself at BAR (British American Racing) Honda. After a tricky first year getting settled within the team and some difficulty in getting along with team-mate Jacques Villeneuve, Button started the 2004 season with BAR Honda in electrifying form.
The Brit scored a maiden podium finish at the Malaysian Grand Prix, only being beaten by Michael Schumacher in his prime Ferrari era and Juan Pablo Montoya in the impressive BMW Williams. Button then went on to claim another nine podium finishes throughout the season, and finished third in the Drivers' Championship. After a relatively tough opening to his F1 career, Button's 2004 campaign put him on the radar for potential championship material.
Unfortunately, the 2005 season with BAR Honda was remarkably disappointing, with the Brit only scoring two podium finishes in Germany and Belgium. However, despite a disappointing follow-up season after 2004, Button chose to stay with BAR Honda for the 2006 season, despite contractual disputes with Williams.
2006 laid some of the foundations of what was to come for Button, as new team-mate Rubens Barrichello joined the team. This season proved to be somewhat more successful than the season prior, with Button taking three podiums during that season, and finally claiming a maiden Grand Prix victory at the Hungarian GP. By winning the Hungarian GP, Button had finally proved many critics wrong, some of whom claimed that he lacked the ability to ever win a race.
However, 2007 and 2008 proved difficult within Honda, as Button was forced to drive in the midfield, scrapping for a small amount of points each weekend. Honda would eventually be forced to leave F1 for the 2009 season, right as a new regulations change was about to hit the sport. This left Button with a select number of options, and put his F1 career in doubt once again.
However, after Ross Brawn bought the Honda team out and renamed it to Brawn GP for 2009, Button's F1 career aspirations were revived, with the British driver signing with Brawn and even taking a pay cut, as the team were on a very limited budget.
Brawn GP turned up to the first race in Melbourne, Australia, with practically zero sponsorship, and nothing but faith and determination to win big in F1. To the surprise of everybody, Button and Brawn GP appeared to be a match made in heaven, with Button claiming six wins from the first seven races, leading the championship by a comfortable margin.
Despite a late championship charge from Red Bull's Sebastian Vettel, Button would become an F1 World Champion during his 10th racing season in the sport. Brawn GP eventually became Mercedes-AMG Petronas, with Button leaving Brawn at the end of the season to join McLaren.
McLaren would be the last F1 team Button drove for, as the Brit was never able to challenge legitimately for the championship again. However, Button did take victory at the longest ever broadcasted F1 race, the Canadian GP in 2011, which is highly regarded as perhaps the greatest ever F1 victory by any driver. He was overall just as fast as champions Sebastian Vettel, Lewis Hamilton and Fernando Alonso on many an occasion.
Ultimately, the British legend retired from F1 in 2017 after filling in for Alonso at the 2017 Monaco Grand Prix.
Button would then go on to explore options in Sportscar racing, driving in the 2018-2019 WEC season alongside former F1 rival Vitaly Petrov in LMP1. Unfortunately, Button would later leave the sport after a disappointing lack of manufacturers and an overall decline in popularity for the sport.
The former F1 champion would later join Williams F1 as a senior advisor, and also stepped into a broadcaster role with Sky Sports F1.
In 2023, Button competed in the 24 Hours of Le Mans in a unique NASCAR Garage 56 entry, alongside Mike Rockenfeller and legendary NASCAR driver Jimmie Johnson. Button then went on to compete in three NASCAR races as well, with a best result of 18th. In the Chicago race however, Button was fighting for a Top 5 finish before spinning in difficult conditions.
Finally, Button re-joined the WEC full-time in 2024 with JOTA, who switched from Porsche to Cadillac machinery for the 2025 season. Button's full-time WEC career has been intriguing, as the Brit has scored podiums with the No.38 squad a couple of times, but has unfortunately often fell short of winning any races with the team.
Speaking on his WEC career, Button said: "This past two years I have learned so much, especially around the complexities of the cars in WEC; the systems are intricate, and it took me longer than I expected to fully understand them. I find it incredibly rewarding that at 45 years old, I am still learning as a driver. Working with teammates has also taught me a lot about compromise, which is crucial because, as drivers, we are naturally selfish, a characteristic which does not prevail in WEC.”
Ahead of his final race in motorsport, Button unveiled a special helmet design in memory of his first ever karting helmet. The F1 champion will start his final race from 14th on the grid.
