Abu Dhabi Grand Prix to be Jenson Button’s last race before taking on ambassador role

Jenson Button has announced he will not be racing in Formula One in 2017, but as McLaren chairman Ron Dennis said: "Forget the word retirement".

Jenson Button addresses the media following qualifying for the Italian Grand Prix where he announced he will not be racing the 2017 season. Charles Coates / Getty Images

Jenson Button has announced he will not be racing in Formula One in 2017.

The Briton, who has participated in every season since 2000, will take a year out of the sport next term and will be replaced by McLaren’s highly-rated reserve driver Stoffel Vandoorne.

His last race before he steps aside will be the Etihad Airways Abu Dhabi Grand Prix on November 27, the final race of the 2016 campaign. McLaren have an option on Button, 36, for him to compete for the race team in 2018.

Button, the 2009 world champion, made the announcement flanked by McLaren chairman Ron Dennis in the team’s motorhome on Saturday following qualifying for Sunday’s Italian Grand Prix.

“I can tell you now that I do have a two-year contract starting next year with McLaren-Honda, and next year I will be an ambassador for this team,” Button said.

“I will work with this team in every way I can to make it a better team for the future. I will train like you have never seen before and I will also do a lot of races to make sure everything is on the right track.”

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Button said that another appeal of the arrangement was a just to have more free time.

“I will also be doing a lot of stuff that I haven’t done for 17 years,” he said.

“I will be living on my schedule, spend more time with my friends and more importantly my family, who I haven’t seen properly in 17 years. That is something I am really excited about. There are many things I want to do that I haven’t been able to do because of the Formula One schedule.

“You are not just a racing driver when you drive in F1. This is your life, and I definitely need a break from that in 2017.”

Button has been linked with a move to Williams — with whom he started his grand prix journey in 2000 — but his new role at McLaren will forbid him from competing with another team.

Button will still attend some of the grands prix next season as backup to Belgian Vandoorne, 24, and Fernando Alonso.

“Forget the word retirement,” Dennis said. “That is not in the vocabulary and that is not what we are saying. Jenson is one of the team’s drivers for the next two years. If Jenson is needed to drive next year for any reason he can.”

Button has made nearly 300 grands prix starts in a career that has spanned 17 seasons, yielded 15 wins and 50 podiums.

He also won the world championship with Brawn in 2009.

Vandoorne, who made his grand prix debut in Bahrain earlier this season as a replacement for Alonso following the Spaniard’s crash at the season opener in Australia, will take Button’s seat.

“First of all, I want to express my gratitude to everyone at McLaren-Honda, and especially Ron, for showing faith in me,” Vandoorne said.

“I’ve signed loads of autographs in my career, but, when I inked my signature on my McLaren-Honda contract on Sunday, it’s safe to say I had an exceptionally special feeling as I picked up my pen to do so.

“It’s an enormous honour to become a McLaren-Honda race driver, and I promise to work as hard as any Formula One driver ever has before.”

Button began his career with Williams before spells with Renault, BAR and then Honda.

The Japanese manufacturer quit the sport at the end of 2008, leaving Button without a drive, but a consortium led by Ross Brawn took over the team at the 11th hour and Button claimed the world title in the following season, with Brawn winning the constructors’ title.

The Englishman then moved to McLaren in 2010, where he beat Lewis Hamilton on points in the three seasons they were paired together.

While his career at McLaren began in spectacular fashion — he won in only his second appearance for the British team — McLaren have fallen down the grid in recent seasons.

Button’s last race victory came in Brazil in November 2012.

“I love McLaren-Honda,” Button said. “I firmly believe it’s made up of the best bunch of people I’ve ever worked with and I have no intention of ever driving for another Formula One team.

“To be clear I’m very definitely not retiring. I’m contracted for both 2017 and 2018. I intend to work hard on car development and I’m sure I’ll get behind the wheel of the new car at some point.”

He will start Sunday’s Italian Grand Prix from 14th on the grid, two places behind teammate Alonso.

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