Jenson Button has announced that he will be driving for McLaren Honda in 2016.
The 2009 Formula One World Champion was fully expected to announce his retirement from the sport at last weekends Japanese Grand Prix.
McLaren operations director Jonathan Neale even told the FIA press conference ahead of the race that ‘if your driver doesn’t really want to be in the seat, we have to respect that.’
The British driver remained tight lipped throughout the weekend whilst McLaren chairman Ron Dennis remained adamant that Button and team-mate Fernando Alonso would be staying with the team, stating that both had contracts for next season.
But with McLaren and Honda’s struggles throughout 2015, it looked as though Button could still walk away.
Three days passed and there was still no official announcement until now.
‘Over the past month or so I have done quite a lot of thinking, and it is no secret that I was at one point in two minds about my future, But I have been a McLaren driver for six seasons now, and in that time I have got to know Ron [Dennis] very well. He and I have had some very good chats these past few weeks, and during those chats it has become clear to me that Ron is both utterly determined and uniquely equipped to lead our team through its current difficulties to great successes in the future. Button said.
‘That gives me great confidence, and it is for that reason that, together, he and I have decided to continue our partnership; and, as soon as I had made that decision, straight away I realised it was the correct one.
‘Okay, granted, this year has not been an easy one for us, but we know what we need to do to improve things and, in collaboration with Honda, we will work extremely hard over the next weeks and months in order to make sure that 2016 will be a much better season than 2015 has been. I can’t wait!’
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