Jenson Button announces retirement from racing as F1 champion names his final race

Jenson Button has confirmed his retirement from motorsport. The 2009 world champion will take to the track one final time at the Eight Hours of Bahrain in early November before hanging up his racing boots.

Button called time on his F1 career at the end of the 2016 season before coming back for a one-race cameo with McLaren at the 2017 Monaco Grand Prix. Since then, the Somerset-born racer has competed in various disciplines, including the NASCAR Cup Series and the World Endurance Championship.

The 45-year-old, who still works as a pundit on Sky Sports F1's coverage, announced in July that he would be stepping away from full-time racing and leaving his role with Jota Cadillac, but Button has now made clear that his days in the cockpit will soon be behind him.

"This will be my last race. I've always liked Bahrain, I think it's a fun track, and I'm going to enjoy it as much as I can because this will be the end of my professional racing career," Button told BBC Radio Somerset.

"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."

After tough outings in Qatar and Imola to start the season, Button's team rallied, and following strong showings at Spa and Le Mans, they clinched their only podium of the campaign in Sao Paulo.

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Button and team-mates Earl Bamber and Sebastien Bourdais are looking to get Cadillac over the line as the American Manufacturers' Championship fight with Porsche draws to a close. The Brit's squad trail their German rivals by 22 points heading into the season finale in Bahrain.

"We're still fighting as a team for the Constructors' Championship," Button explained after making his grand announcement. "We're still in the hunt for the win, which is obviously very difficult, but P2 is attainable.

"There's a lot to look forward to in Bahrain, and it being my last race... I've always liked Bahrain. I think it's a fun track, and I'm going to enjoy it as much as I can, because this will be the end of my professional racing career."