Former F1 champ Jenson Button getting back in gear, with Daytona's Rolex 24 next on list

Two seasons of sports-car racing in Japan followed Jenson Button’s departure from Formula One in 2017.

He wasn’t totally off the grid after that, but the appearances were very few and far between over the next three years. Then came 2023 and a knee-deep return: His role in NASCAR’s Le Mans entry, along with a few Cup Series starts on road courses, and an American sports-car debut in IMSA’s finale in October.

And now, pushing his 44th birthday, he’s approaching his Rolex 24 at Daytona debut, in a marquee Acura prototype, likely followed by a full season of prototype racing in Europe’s World Endurance Championship — including another run at Le Mans, this time in a car competing for overall victory.

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There's suddenly a lot going on, so the question had to be asked.

“Trouble at home?”

After a quick burst of laughter: “If there was trouble at home, I wouldn’t be racing. It’d be the other way around.”

Button was in town this past week for a couple days of initial prep work in one of the two GTP entries for Wayne Taylor Racing, which this year began a partnership with Andretti Autosport. The 2009 Formula One champion brings more star power to the Rolex 24 with its stature having grown in recent years as several world-class racers have joined cockpit rosters — two-time F1 champ Fernando Alonso was part of the 2019 overall winner.

Among Button’s Taylor Racing teammates is 2022 Indy 500 winner Marcus Ericsson, while this year’s Indy winner Josef Newgarden is co-driving a Roger Penske prototype.

Button, an England native who now lives in Los Angeles with his wife and two young sons, seemed genuinely thrilled to take part in this past week’s test, which was more of a shakedown compared to next month’s official three-day test (“The Roar Before the 24”) ahead of the following week’s Rolex 24.

“I didn’t know about this test when we first talked about the Rolex,” he said. “It’s an extra couple of days, a bonus for me. It’s important to spend these two days here, go away and think about it, and then come back.”

The Rolex 24 has long served as coming-out party for a new international racing season. For Button, it will usher in a season that, barring last-minute issues, should include the eight-race World Endurance Championship, Europe’s “sister series” to NASCAR’s North American IMSA Weathertech Championship.

“I obviously raced after F1 — Japan, WEC, Le Mans,” he said. “Then I tried a few different things, like off-road, which my father used to race, so I wanted to try it out. Realized I'm not very good at it. Then Covid hit, and there were a couple years of opportunities but nothing really materialized."

Meanwhile, though seemingly very comfortable in all ways, the clock was ticking and the competitive juices were still available.

“I’m 43, which sounds crazy when I say it. I keep fit. I do a lot of boxing, a lot of reaction work. I just set the Guinness world record for reactions on one of those boards that lights up.”

True story, by the way.

It’s called the BATAK reflex reaction test, which uses a board of lights that test reaction time and hand speed and is often used by racers to gauge such hand-eye abilities. The previous world record was 56 strikes in 30 seconds; Button beat it by two.

“The reactions are there,” he said. “As long as you’re hungry for it, you can do it in your 40s. This is the time for me to get back into racing seriously, and I want to do a full season. That’s the aim.”

But this latest chapter of Button’s racing career brings a whole different type of automotive competition. He got a good taste of endurance racing last summer at Le Mans and in October at IMSA’s 10-hour Petit Le Mans outside Atlanta. He seems beyond intrigued.

“For me, it’s all about endurance races at the moment,” he said. “I had an opportunity to race in IndyCar next year. Love the racing, but endurance racing is where it’s exciting for me.

“The racing is great, multi-class racing is great, I like working with my teammates rather than fighting with my teammates. And I think it’s a really special atmosphere when you achieve something together.”

This article originally appeared on The Daytona Beach News-Journal: F1 champ Jenson Button adds more star power to Rolex 24 at Daytona