Categories: F1 News, Reports and Race ResultsMcLaren

'I was in two minds' over F1 future - Button

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Jenson Button admits he was "in two minds" about whether to remain with McLaren for 2016 or retire from Formula One.

The 2009 world champion has been confirmed as a McLaren driver for next season following speculation over whether he would retire, with the team enduring a difficult season. With just six points to his name so far this year, Button admits he was torn but says recent talks with McLaren boss Ron Dennis convinced him to stay.

"Over the past month or so I have done quite a lot of thinking, and it is no secret that I was at one point in two minds about my future," Button said.

"But I have been a McLaren driver for six seasons now [2010-2015], and in that time I have got to know Ron very well. He and I have had some very good chats these past few weeks, and during those chats it has become clear to me that Ron is both utterly determined and uniquely equipped to lead our team through its current difficulties to great successes in the future. That gives me great confidence, and it is for that reason that, together, he and I have decided to continue our partnership; and, as soon as I had made that decision, straight away I realised it was the correct one."

And Button says he is confident of a much-improved year in 2016 following Honda's struggles this season.

"Okay, granted, this year has not been an easy one for us, but we know what we need to do to improve things and, in collaboration with Honda, we will work extremely hard over the next weeks and months in order to make sure that 2016 will be a much better season than 2015 has been.

"I can't wait!"

CONFIRMED: McLaren retains Button for 2016

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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.