F1 News, Reports and Race Results

Button gets super-season WEC LMP1 drive with SMP Racing

Jenson Button is still very much an active racing driver, the 2009 F1 world champion accepting an opportunity to race in the World Endurance Championship with SMP Racing's LMP1 squad, starting at Le Mans in June.

Button has added the WEC gig to his Super GT commitment with Honda in Japan, which explains why he will jump on the LMP1 sportscar bandwagon only after next week's Spa opening round which clashes with a Fuji Super GT round.

The 38-year-old will race at Le Mans for the very first time, sharing his SMP Racing AER-powered Dallara BR1 along with former F1 colleague Vitaly Petrov and IndyCar racer Mikhail Aleshin.

"As you can imagine it's always been a dream of mine to race at Le Mans, I think it's every driver's dream to take part and hopefully go on to clinch that win at Le Mans, and I'm definitely no different," said the 2009 F1 champion.

"My teammates will be Aleshin and Petrov, who I know very well from his racing in F1, and Mikhail from his IndyCar exploits.

"We go to Le Mans to fight for the win. Every driver aims to win every race they go in for, but I think we really do have a good chance of being competitive at Le Mans."

Gallery: The beautiful wives and girlfriends of F1 drivers

Keep up to date with all the F1 news via Facebook and Twitter

Michael Delaney

Recent Posts

Austrian GP: Friday's action in pictures

As predicted, Friday at the Red Bull Ring unfolded under clear blue skies but scorching…

10 hours ago

Russell flags McLaren as genuine threat in Austrian GP heat

Mercedes may have ended Friday at the top of the timesheets in Spielberg, but George…

11 hours ago

Red Bull braces for another major exit as Monaghan linked to Cadillac

The revolving door at Red Bull Racing may not have stopped spinning just yet. A…

12 hours ago

Austrian GP: Hyper quick Antonelli keeps Mercedes on top in FP2

A quick and determined Kimi Antonelli finished Friday’s second practice at the Red Bull Ring…

13 hours ago

Austrian Grand Prix Free Practice 2 - Results

Full results from Free Practice 2 for the Austrian Grand Prix at the Red Bull…

13 hours ago

Verstappen wants F1 to avoid Spa 24 Hours clash in 2027

Max Verstappen is laser focused on Red Bull's home Formula 1 race in Spielberg, but…

14 hours ago