Jenson Button makes final call on professional racing career

Jenson Button has confirmed he will retire from professional racing after this weekend’s 8 Hours of Bahrain endurance race.

The 2009 Formula One world champion, 45, retired from F1 at the end of the 2016 season, though did make a one-off return at the 2017 Monaco Grand Prix.

Button, who now lives in California, works as a part-time pundit for Sky Sports’ coverage of F1 but has also raced in the last few years in the World Endurance Championship (WEC) for Hertz Team Jota.

Yet this weekend’s final round of the 2025 season at the Bahrain International Circuit will be Button’s final professional race.

"This will be my last race, I've always liked Bahrain, I think it's a fun track, Button told BBC Radio Somerset.

“I'm going to enjoy it as much as I can because this will be the end of my professional racing career.

"I've really enjoyed my time with Jota in WEC but my life has got way too busy and it's not fair on the team or on myself to go into 2026 and think that I'm going to have enough time for it.

"My kids are four and six and you're away for a week and you miss so much, you don't get this time back.

"I feel like I've missed a lot the last couple of years, which has been fine because I knew that would happen, but I'm not willing to do that again for another season."

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Button has competed at the 24 Hours of Le Mans in the last three years, while his best result in WEC was a second-place finish at the 6 Hours of Sao Paulo event in July.

The 45-year-old is currently positioned ninth in the drivers’ championship, alongside teammates Earl Bamber and Sebastien Bourdais.

Despite calling it a day professionally, Button will continue to race in his own classic cars at events in the future.

"I've got classic cars I love to race and for me that's exciting because it's mine - a car that I own - and I love the mechanical aspect," he said.

"It's very different to the cars I race in WEC and F1, you're really connected to it which I love, having to heel and toe, getting the gear shift just right, no aero, it's all mechanical."