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Button could race another category in 2017

Jenson Button could race in another motorsport category in 2017, despite wanting a break from the F1 racing schedule.

The 2009 world champion is taking a year off racing in F1 and becoming an ambassador for McLaren-Honda while also acting as reserve driver for the team. While Button made it clear his main desire is to have a break from the relentless F1 calendar, he says he could race in another category next season.

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"There is a possibility of me racing next year but at the moment I am not thinking about anything over the firstly the end of this year," Button said. "There are many things I want to try and do but trying to list them here is impossible really.

"I’m really excited about this and wherever it takes us in the future I don’t really know but it is exciting and gives me the opportunity to live my life like I haven’t as an adult, ever. My family is forever growing as well so it is nice to be able to spend time with them and not see them once a year and see they’ve grown. That is very important to me.

"Also I love my fitness, I love my triathlon, I love my cycling and of course I will love racing I always will for the rest of my life and F1 will always be close to my heart because it has been my life for so many years. There is a possibility I could race next year."

Button has previously voiced a desire to try Rallycross - a category in which his father John used to compete - as well as Super GT in Japan.

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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.