Categories: F1 News, Reports and Race ResultsMcLaren

'Really exciting' McLaren plans convinced Button to stay

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Jenson Button says a "really exciting" meeting at McLaren's factory helped convince him to stay with the team for 2016.

Following a difficult first year for the McLaren-Honda partnership, Button considered his future in F1 before agreeing to remain with the team next year. Having had his contract extension confirmed last week, Button says it came after discussions about the future of the team at the McLaren Technology Centre [MTC] in Woking.

"Yes I had thoughts about what direction I would take if I wasn’t here next year and what I could possibly do but it wasn’t in my mind very long," Button said.

McLaren retains Button for 2016

"But there were things I needed more information on, where this team is going, and that’s why I spent a lot of time with Ron [Dennis] on the phone but also at the MTC last week. A lot of time with engineers, aerodynamicist, running through everything on the engine programme, and that’s the reason I decided to say."

And Button says the plans for McLaren's future are one of the main motivations for him heading in to 2016.

"I’ve never had such a long engineering meeting as we had last week. It’s just really exciting and the relationship we have is fantastic anyway. I’ve been here five years, there’s a good relationship there and I bring a lot to the team in terms of feedback, which helps development. That’s also important to me, I don’t just want to be a driver who drives the car, I want to develop, I want to help, I want to direct this team and help this team."

However, Button says he did not seek guarantees that he would be able to stay with McLaren beyond next season. Asked if one condition of staying was knowing the door is open after 2016, Button replied: "No, not necessarily.

"That wasn’t part of the discussion. You’ve just got to see how next year goes, we’re always trying to look further into the future aren’t we, especially you guys!"

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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.