Categories: F1 News, Reports and Race ResultsMcLaren

McLaren or quits in F1 for Button

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Jenson Button says he will either race for McLaren next year or quit F1, ruling out a move to another team.

Following a frustrating season for McLaren so far, Button's future is uncertain as he is yet to decide whether to take up an option on his contract for 2016. While McLaren would also have to activate the option for a second year, Button has been linked with a move elsewhere after Haas owner Gene Haas said he would look to take an experienced driver who wanted to leave "a sinking ship".

Asked if he would be willing to move to a start-up team such as Haas, Button replied: "No.

"If I am in F1, it will be with this team. I have had some tough times with this team, but I have a lot of respect for the whole team and Honda. This is the team for the future and I don’t think there is any point at looking at a smaller, younger start-up programme.

"To be fair to this team, it is very young still in terms of our relationship with Honda and powerplant itself. This will improve a lot over the years."

And while Button says he shares team-mate Fernando Alonso's optimism for the future, he admits working out how long it will take McLaren to be competitive again comes in to his planning for next year.

"Of course, you look forward and look at how many years until you are fighting up front. That is what you are here to do in the grand scheme of things. We are both world champions and we have that hunger for winning and that addiction to winning. This year has been interesting. Having Fernando as a team-mate has been great and I have really enjoyed the year.

"When you are fighting near the back, you still have the chance to fight with someone that is very talented, as experienced as myself, so it has been a lot of fun. That feeling doesn’t last though and you want to start winning races. I do feel that everyone is working very hard at MTC and Sakura, they are not just waiting for things to happen, they are trying to make things happen. It’s a time thing, it is very difficult how long it will take. I am a very positive person, as Fernando is, and we hope for the best."

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Andrew Lewin

Andrew first became a fan of Formula 1 during the time when Michael Schumacher and Damon Hill were stepping into the limelight after the era of Alain Prost, Nigel Mansell and Aryton Senna. He's been addicted ever since, and has been writing about the sport now for nearly a quarter of a century for a number of online news sites. He's also written professionally about GP2 (now Formula 2), GP3, IndyCar, World Rally Championship, MotoGP and NASCAR. In his other professional life, Andrew is a freelance writer, social media consultant, web developer/programmer, and digital specialist in the fields of accessibility, usability, IA, online communities and public sector procurement. He worked for many years in magazine production at Bauer Media, and for over a decade he was part of the digital media team at the UK government's communications department. Born and raised in Essex, Andrew currently lives and works in south-west London.