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Ex-Formula 1 driver Jenson Button says his “dream” is to race in the Le Mans 24 Hours again, and has targeted helping a manufacturer to develop a car from scratch for his return to the event.
Button retired from Formula 1 at the end of 2016 – doing one race to replace the Indianapolis 500-bound Fernando Alonso at Monaco the following year – and won the Super GT Championship with Naoki Yamamoto in 2018.
He raced at Le Mans the same year with SMP Racing, but the car was not expected to take on the might of Toyota that year and Button’s car didn’t finish.
Speaking just before making his Extreme E driving debut on April 3 with his own team complete with Lotus backing, Button said that competing at Le Mans was the top of his priority list for a racing return.
“I need to do some circuit racing as well,” said Button, who has rejoined his old F1 team Williams as a ‘senior advisor’.
“I love off-road and I’d like to do maybe a rally or rallycross.
“I’ve spoken to a lot of the guys and they’re like, ‘you want to do rallycross, well I have a car you can test. Oh you want to do rally? I’ve got a car you can test as well’ and I’m like this is amazing, so many opportunities.
“But my dream is to race at Le Mans in 2023 I would say. I think it’s the best it’s ever been probably. I remember talking about it probably 10 years ago actually, Le Mans, and how special it was.
“We had three manufacturers racing in LMP1, the best it’s ever been and then it sort of massively declined very quickly but it’s on the up again. It’s unbelievable, there’s going to be seven or eight manufacturers in LMDH/LMH.”
The list of teams taking on the 2023 Le Mans 24 Hours is likely to increase, with Audi, Ferrari, Peugeot, Porsche and Toyota all confirmed so far.
Button says the driving is not the only attraction to the series as he aims to have a more rounded role in a team’s car.
“For me it’s important not to just get in a car,” he said.
“I got in a car at Le Mans 2018 for the experience for the future and I loved it but still it wasn’t my car.
“I want to develop a car and that’s my strength. I’ve spoken to a couple of people and to be fair, I’m 41, and they think it’s the perfect age. Mid-late 30s, mid-late 40s is the best time for an endurance driver because you’re not there to prove anything.
“You’re there to develop the car, build it and you’re going to be quick but also you’ve had the experience.
“I think a lot of guys that get into it that are young [just want to go as fast as they can] and it’s proving something for their future. And not everyone’s like that but a lot of people are, just from our past experiences in racing at Le Mans and seeing youngsters racing at Le Mans.
“There will be some that are fantastic, if Charles Leclerc gets in a Ferrari at Le Mans he’s going to be extremely good because he’s got his head on the right way round.
“But yeah I’m looking forward to that if it happens.”
In terms of a single-seater future, Button revealed earlier this year that he was set to race on the road and street courses of the IndyCar Series with Arrow McLaren SP, backed by Button’s ex-F1 team, before the pandemic intervened.
Button said “I don’t think it’s going to happen” on an IndyCar future, before reinforcing his Le Mans interest.
“Yeah ,I was looking at it but I don’t know,” Button said.
“Just jumping in is tricky because there’s no testing. I don’t want to get into something and do a bad job so you get like two test days and it’s not enough.
“It’s [IndyCar] completely different to Formula 1, it’s very heavy, no power steering and I’ve seen quite a few F1 drivers get in it and struggle initially. And after five or six races they’re strong and I’m sure Grosjean will be strong but it’s going to take a bit of time and I don’t want to have a couple of races to find my feet.
“It’s a shame, but I don’t think that one’s going to happen.
“But Le Mans is unbelievably exciting.
“I think for motorsport as a whole it’s exciting and it’s good to see, it’s only a small step I know, but is going to be hybrid at least so it’s a step in the right direction.
“There are a couple of hydrogen cars that could also be running which is good, Garage 56 I think they call it, so there is progress but I think it’ll be a couple of years before [they’re mainstream]. And also it would be nice to race in the States, that’s where I live.”
