Is Jenson Button interested in taking the available Mercedes seat in 2025?
F1 News
2009 world champion Jenson Button admits he won't call Toto Wolff about the vacant seat at Mercedes in 2025, with Lewis Hamilton leaving for Ferrari. Button is currently involved in the World Endurance Championship, but a return to Formula 1 is off the cards for the 44-year-old.
Empty seat at Mercedes
Mercedes have been left with an emty seat after Hamilton announced his move to Ferrari for the start of the 2025 season, ending a lengthy partnership with the Silver Arrows. Many drivers have been linked with the seat, including Max Verstappen, Carlos Sainz, and Mercedes junior Andrea Kimi Antonelli. Is Button throwing his name in the hat?
Speaking on Sky Sports F1 podcast, Button says he's done his time in the sport and wouldn't return to the Brackley team. He is happy racing outside of Formula 1 for now.
“Yeah, I did my years in F1. 17 years. The car I’m racing now is pretty quick, but it's not as quick as an F1 car and getting back up to speed in something that you need reactions to be that fast, I think takes time and maybe too much time. It's a lovely thought to race in F1 again but I don't think I’m at that point in my life anymore," Button said.
Button raced in Formula 1 from 2000-2017, racing for Williams, Benetton, Renault, BAR, Honda, Brawn and McLaren. In 306 race starts, Button took 15 wins and 50 podiums, his last win coming in the 2012 Brazilian Grand Prix for McLaren.
His one world title came in 2009 with the Brawn GP team, when he took six wins in the first seven races, benefitting from a double diffuser design. He took the championship with one race to spare but moved to McLaren at the end of the season when Mercedes took over the team.
Button retired from the sport in 2016 but made a comeback at the 2017 Monaco Grand Prix, standing in for Fernando Alonso, who was racing in the Indianapolis 500 the same weekend. He retired late into the race after colliding with Sauber's Pascal Wherlein.
What is Button currently doing?
Button is currently racing full-time in the World Endurance Championship with Hertz Team Jota, alongside fellow countryman Philip Hanson and Denmark's Oliver Rasmussen. After two races, they sit 16th overall, finishing 16th in Qatar and 11th at the 6 hours of Imola. Button chose to go for a full-time drive in endurance after racing in the 24 hours of Le Mans in 2023 in a modified NASCAR.
Button is also working for Williams in a Senior Advisor role, as well as working as a pundit for Sky Sports F1.