No retirement in sight for Button
2009 F1 World Champion Jenson Button has insisted that he wishes to continue his career with McLaren beyond the 2014 season.
Jenson Button has just finished three consecutive Grand Prix races without scoring a single point, a first since he joined McLaren in 2010. As his contract is set to expire at the end of the 2014 season, the Briton is currently in his 15th season at the top level, following his debut with Williams in 2000 and his stints with Benetton (2001), Renault (2002), BAR (2003-2005), Honda (2006-2008), and Brawn where he captured his only title in 2009.
Despite this challenging start to the season, the driver alongside young Kevin Magnussen at the wheel of the MP4-29 is not discouraged and wishes to continue his career to reach the top again: « This kind of season doesn’t make you want to retire. If you retire, you want to leave at the top, and if you have the opportunity to do that, then you want to keep racing to stay there. The problem when you do that is that you don’t want to stop either, so you can race for many years. But no, I don’t want to retire at the end of this year. I am happy about my future, and I think it’s quite exciting » he told our British colleagues at Autosport.
A statement that fits into the context of Honda’s arrival in 2015 as the exclusive engine supplier for the Woking team. A situation that has already given rise to several rumors, including the persistent, though never confirmed, rumor of Fernando Alonso potentially joining as early as next season, which could, once again potentially, threaten Jenson Button’s seat. However, it is highly likely that the Briton will continue his career with McLaren.
The current difficulties of the team, whose last constructors’ world championship title dates back to 1998, have led to the initiation of an internal restructuring, partly conducted by Eric Boullier, the competition director, under the impetus of Ron Dennis, president of the McLaren Group: « We need to be fast towards the end of the year if we want to be fast for next year because there are no regulation changes, we must stay focused. I know Ron Dennis said we need to win this year, but it will be very hard. That’s why there is a big effort to be made; maybe Mercedes will finish with 300 points this season » the Frenchman stated.
