Why Button is embarking on his new challenge in the WEC

Jenson Button doesn’t need to go racing anymore. It’s a fascination with endurance competition that has led to his World Endurance quest with the Jota Porsche team

Updated Feb 8, 2024, 2:20 PM

"I want to be in one of them!” That was Jenson Button’s thought at the Le Mans 24 Hours in 2023 as he thundered down the Mulsanne Straight and held on for dear life through the Porsche Curves aboard the Garage 56 Chevrolet Camaro LS1 NASCAR Cup Car.

And by “one of them”, he meant one of the cars from the Hypercar class that kept buzzing past in the battle for overall victory last June. The 2009 Formula 1 world champion has got his desire for this year as part of his first full season of racing since 2019 by taking on the World Endurance Championship with the Jota Porsche team.

Author Gary Watkins

Gary Watkins has, for reasons best known to himself, devoted all his working life to covering sportscar racing. This season is his 32nd as a motorsport journalist, during which time he has reported on major long-distance events on four continents and approaching 75 24-hour races. He reckons a degree in political philosophy makes him well qualified for covering the sometimes Machiavellian world of international sportscars.

Gary, who also writes for Autoweek, Motor Sport, Autocourse, RACER and others, lives in Surbiton but spends more time on the road than at home for most of the year.