Former F1 champion Jenson Button to race at World Endurance Championship aged 44 - ‘I'm still at my best’

Jenson Button insists he is “still at his best” as he prepares to race at the World Endurance Championship next year, aged 44.

The former Formula 1 world champion will compete in the Jota Porsche 963 in the top hypercar class as he returns for the full season, eight years after retiring from Formula 1 in 2016.

The World Endurance Championship, which will be shown live on Eurosport and discovery+, includes the world-famous 24 Hours of Le Mans race.

On his decision to reignite his racing career, Button believes he still has what it takes and claims the technology in endurance racing is “more advanced” than in F1.

"I'm still at my best,” he told the BBC. "I have a pass from the wife. I'm a better person when I'm racing.

"In F1 cars, the tech is through the roof and it's the pinnacle of aero, and they are the best teams in the world. But they are not as technologically advanced as hypercars.

“LMDH [hypercars] have 38 pages of just what the steering wheel does; there are so many switches. So many different things for the same issue.

"There's a lot to learn - it's a staggering amount of stuff and it blows your mind and takes a while to get used to. It's very clever but very complex, and it takes a different type of driver - you need the skill on track but also you need to be an expert in engineering as well."

Button will return to competitive racing 15 years after he claimed his only F1 title in 2009, and will be 44 when the season gets underway in March in Qatar.

The British driver has featured in the odd race since his retirement in 2016 following an 18-year career - including at Le Mans this year - but this will be the first time he will compete in an entire season.

He will race in Europe, Asia and America across an eight-race season.

"Hypercars are the coolest-looking cars ever," Button added. "If I drew a car when I was a kid it would have been a hypercar.

"I used to a watch Le Mans in the 1980s. That team atmosphere is very different to F1, where team-mates are the first person you've got beat; in endurance racing you work with team-mates to develop the car to win races."

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