Categories: F1 News, Reports and Race ResultsMcLaren

Button has no fear of leaving F1

Jenson Button says he has no fear of leaving Formula One when the time is right for him to retire from the sport.

The 2009 world champion's future was in doubt over the Japanese Grand Prix weekend, with Button considering whether to remain with McLaren for next season. Ahead of the Russian Grand Prix it was confirmed Button would stay, taking him in to his 17th season of racing in F1.

When asked if he fears leaving the sport, Button insists he will only remain in F1 if he feels he will have the chance to challenge for victories in machinery which excites him.

"No, I definitely don’t have fear of leaving," Button said. "I think when you’ve raced for so long, the only reason you want to keep racing is the chance to be competitive.

"The future of the sport is also a lot more exciting than we thought it was maybe a year ago, with people understanding things need to change. There’s been a lot of criticism about the sport in general and it’s nice to see people are taking notice and things are changing.

"The future, I don’t know if I will be racing in ’17, ’18, whatever, but I think it looks very exciting and I think that’s something the sport should be excited about, and the fans also."

And focusing on his more short-term prospects, Button expects McLaren to be able to make a big step forward for 2016.

"Obviously we are focusing on now, the future is something we can look forward to, concentrating on now is the only way we are going to be competitive now. There are lots of changes within the team and the power unit. This is still a very young partnership and I think you’ll see a much more competitive team next year."

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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.