Williams 'would have loved to' sign Button

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Williams deputy team principal Claire Williams admits she "would have loved to" sign Jenson Button to drive for the team in 2017.

Button announced on Saturday in Monza he will take year off racing in F1 while remaining part of the McLaren line-up, with Stoffel Vandoorne taking his seat alongside Fernando Alonso, Button could then return to race for McLaren in 2018 as the team has an option on him.

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Williams has previously declared her interest in Button when considering potential drivers for next season, and highlighted the reaction of the crowd at Silverstone when such a move was suggested to her on stage post-race as a sign it would be a good fit for the team.

With Felipe Massa announcing his retirement from F1 on Thursday, Williams definitely has a vacancy but Button quickly ruled himself out and Williams says he was near the top of her list.

"Everyone knows that we were quite interested in Jenson – why wouldn't you be?" Williams told Sky Sports. "He's a great talent and would be a great driver for anyone to have in their team.

"Saturday's announcement is a real shame for the sport and comes off the back of Felipe [announcing his retirement]. We're losing two great drivers from the sport. Legends.

"I would have loved to have Jenson in this team, but unfortunately it didn't work out.

"I wish him all the best. I would have loved to have seen him in Williams... a British driver in a British team has been a dream of mine – you never know, one day [it could happen]."

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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.