Button set to announce F1 retirement in Japan

2009 World Champion Jenson Button will announce his retirement from Formula One at this weekend’s Japanese Grand Prix, according to Fleet Street.

The Brit has been in negotiations with McLaren to take up his option for 2016, but Button does not want to spend another year driving at the back of the field in an unreliable and underpowered car, which seems to be McLaren-Honda’s near future.

Despite being an advocate of the project in its early stages, Button has run out of patience with the Japanese manufacturer, who look set to run their home Grand Prix with very little to show for themselves. The team can no longer put a timeframe on when the Honda power unit can begin to fight the likes of Ferrari and Mercedes.

So far this season, Button has scored in only Monaco and Hungary – his total is a mere six points.

The Japanese Grand Prix is also important to Button. It is considered his second home; spending a lot of time in the country as his wife, Jessica, is Japanese. The Suzuka Circuit seems the ideal place, therefore, to announce his Formula One exit.

One of McLaren’s young protégés will take his place – either Kevin Magnussen, who drove for the team last year before being dropped in favour of Fernando Alonso, and current GP2 championship leader Stoffel Vandoorne.

Magnussen has been linked with a seat at Haas, but it now looks as though that seat will go to Romain Grosjean after a supposed falling out with the bosses at Renault, who look set to buy the financially-struggling Lotus team.

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