Button hopes ‘true F1 great’ Alonso ‘stays a little longer’

Fernando Alonso’s future in Formula 1 is still up in the air, but Jenson Button is not quite ready to see the Spaniard call time on it.

At 45, the Aston Martin charger remains one of the sport’s most intriguing figures, combining extraordinary longevity with the kind of distinctive driving ability that has made him instantly recognisable for more than two decades.

With his current contract with Team Silverstone running out at the end of the 2026 season, however, questions are again swirling over whether the two-time world champion will continue racing or finally step away from the cockpit.

Button, who knows Alonso well from their time as McLaren team-mates, has no inside information on what his former rival intends to do. But he knows exactly what he would like to see happen.

A driver like no other

"Fernando's future is a hot topic of conversation right now," he wrote in Jenson's Journal on the Aston Martin website.

"I have no idea whether he's going to commit to another year in the sport, but I do know whenever he does decide to retire he'll be rightly regarded as one of the true F1 greats – though personally I hope he'll stay a little longer.

“While we wait to see what he does, I felt compelled to pick up my pen and reminisce about my time racing against him in my latest journal entry."

For Button, Alonso’s greatness is not simply reflected in his two world championships or the remarkable length of his career. It is evident in the way he goes wheel-to-wheel with his rivals.

The Briton puts Alonso in particularly exalted company, comparing the experience of racing him to taking on another Formula 1 giant.

"The biggest compliment I can give Fernando is that fighting him was very similar to fighting with Michael Schumacher. In my experience against them it would be hard but fair – it was on the limit every time and I loved that. That was part of the challenge,” Button added.

That relentless but respectful approach is precisely what the 2009 world champion wanted from his toughest opponents.

"When I won my first Grand Prix in Hungary, I was fighting against them and that's what you want as a driver. You want to be fighting against the best, against the greats, to see how you compare,” he said.

Button has enjoyed the rare privilege of sharing the grid with a remarkable collection of champions and legends, making his assessment of Alonso all the more significant.

"In my career I got to race against the likes of Fernando and Michael, as well as Mika Häkkinen, Kimi Räikkönen, Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen. I've been really lucky to have raced against some of the true legends of the sport."

The Alonso fingerprint

What particularly fascinates Button is that Alonso possesses something that cannot easily be quantified by lap times or statistics.

For most drivers, their individual characteristics can become difficult to distinguish when the cars themselves are stripped of their visual identity. Alonso, according to Button, is the exception.

"What makes Fernando stand out is his driving style. If you painted all the cars the same colour and put every driver out on the track, you would struggle to notice the difference,” he explained.

“But when Fernando drives past, you immediately know it's him. That's down to what he's doing behind the wheel.

“Fernando drives like no one else. He's aggressive, he can adapt brilliantly, and it's been that way all through his career."

• Read also: Alonso says ‘more to come’ after Aston’s Dutch GP points

Those qualities have helped Alonso remain competitive long after many of his contemporaries have retired, while also allowing him to reinvent himself across different eras of the sport.

Whether that remarkable journey will continue into 2027 remains unclear. Alonso has repeatedly stressed his commitment to Aston Martin’s long-term project, even if he has yet to decide whether his role will remain that of a race driver.

Button, meanwhile, has already made his wish perfectly clear. For one of Formula 1’s most distinctive talents, the curtain can wait a little longer.

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