No plans to do a U-turn: Button
abu dhabi — When the chequered flag falls on this weekend’s Formula One Etihad Airways Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, it will also bring to a close a chequered and illustrious career to one of the greatest and nicest men in the sport.
Briton Jenson Button will be wearing his racing overalls for the 305th and last time at the Yas Marina Circuit on Sunday. The 36-year-old will wave goodbye after 16 years at the pinnacle of motorsport.
Button, who became the world champion with BrawnGP in 2009, does have a contract with McLaren-Honda until 2018, with this said to be a sabbatical.
But Button, who will have a new designation — that of ambassador with the Woking-based team — made it clear that would be the final race of his career.
“We could be here a little while,” Button said at the Yas Marina Circuit on Thursday, when asked to sum up his career in a nutshell.
“First of all, I go to this weekend thinking it is going to be my last race. I think that’s the best way to leave. At this moment in time, I don’t want to be racing in Formula One past this race. So, I think of this as my last race and hopefully everyone does as well,” he added.
Button, who has 15 wins and 50 podium finishes, said that he will leave the sport with some amazing and very special memories, tales, which one day, he could tell his grandkids about.
“It has been a long journey since eight-years-old till now I’ve been racing in motorsport. Everything before Formula One was working to try and get to Formula One. And you get to Formula One with many dreams and you aspire to be something, and hopefully you leave the sport with memories and that’s something I definitely do have… Lots of amazing memories, lots of life-changing memories, some good, some bad, and also to walk away with a world championship is a very special feeling as well,” he said.
“I’ve raced with two of the teams I dreamt of racing with as a kid, Williams and McLaren, and when I did win the world championship it was with a good privateer team, which I think is also pretty special. Obviously, a very memorable year of my life and in the future, hopefully I will have something to tell my grandkids about. I will definitely step away from Formula 1 happy with what I’ve achieved and knowing that my life really does start now,” added Button.
And he said that he wouldn’t want to change anything from the past even if he did have a chance.
“I don’t want to look back and I want to live in the moment. This is my last race and I’m looking forward to going out on the track and there’s no point in trying to change the past because you can’t. You got to learn from your mistakes and move forward. It is living in the moment and looking towards the future,” Button said.