Former F1 champion Button to race in World Endurance Championship

Former Formula 1 world champion Jenson Button will drive a Jota Porsche 963 in the World Endurance Championship next year.

Button, 43, is set to race in the world’s top hypercar category, which includes the famous Le Mans 24 Hours race.

“I’m still at the top of my game. I’ve got a pass from my wife,” Button told the  BBC, adding that the machinery is “more technologically advanced than F1 cars.”

“In F1 cars, the technology is through the roof and it’s the pinnacle of aerodynamic design, and they’re the best teams in the world. But they are not as technologically advanced as the hypercars,” said Button.

“There’s a lot to learn, it’s an amazing amount of jaw-dropping stuff that takes a while to get used to,” he added.

“It’s very clever, but very complex, and it requires a different type of driver: you need to be skilled on the track, but also be an engineering expert.”

The British driver retired from Formula 1 in 2016, having contested 306 F1 races during his 18-year career. He won the world title in 2009.

“Hypercars are the coolest-looking cars ever,” Button said. “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.”