Jenson Button is currently racing in Le Mans for the first time after retiring from Formula One in 2016, but the 2009 World Champion has conceded that he wanted to leave the sport earlier.
Button won his title with Brawn GP before a move to McLaren saw further success and race victories.
The 38-year old told ESPN that he is enjoying his post-F1 life, recently announcing his engagement to girlfriend Brittny Ward.
He said: “It’s been awesome. I’ve definitely done my years in F1 and stepping away was great, it was a good time for me to do it.
“Realistically if I had the choice, I would have left halfway through the year [2016].”
The last few years of Button’s career were difficult with McLaren not giving him a competitive car, denying fans from seeing him at the front of the grid, or on the podium.
Button also spoke of how he is excited by the prospect of racing in Le Mans: "Le Mans is something I also wanted to do but I didn't want to wait until I was 40 to do it.
“It's nice to get into these monsters to drive round in. Doing anything around here in under three minutes twenty is just madness. So that's very exciting."
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