In an interview with BBC Sport after the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, McLaren driver Jenson Button insists he wasn’t treating the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix “like a last race”.
The 2009 World Champion continues to face an uncertain future with McLaren yet to decide if Button or his team-mate Kevin Magnussen will partner Fernando Alonso in 2015.
The McLaren team have decided to delay the announcement until December 1, leaving their current drivers in limbo at the season finale at the Yas Marina Circuit.
Button has put all the talk about his future to one side and finished fifth on Sunday. However in his interview with the media, Button has stated to BBC Sport that he did the best he could do in the race today:-
‘It was tough. I don’t think we had much pace but made the best of what we had. That was as good as it was going to be – that’s all you can ask. I don’t need to say anything to the team. The support has been unbelievable, overwhelming and hopefully I put on a good show.’
As Button has stated today, it has been tough year for him given the sad passing of his father John who is deeply missed by pundits, fans and the paddock alongside McLaren not announcing if he is to retain his seat for next season. The support he has received from everyone in Formula One has been fantastic and will have helped him this weekend.
But he did everything that he could do in the race today and achieved a great result with fifth place and demonstrated that if he has the car underneath him, he can deliver on the track.
Further on in his interview with BBC Sport, Button believes that his performance today should not dictate if he remains in the sport or not and doesn’t feel ready to leave the sport. Button added the following:-
‘One race should not define my career or show whether I have a future in Formula 1. I’ve not been treating it like a last race. You just focus on what you are doing. I always live in the moment but for people around me there is more time for them to think.
‘I haven’t finished yet! It’s been a good day for me but a much better day for my old team-mate and buddy Lewis Hamilton so congratulations.’
It is nice to see Button congratulating Hamilton on his success today and he will be happy as Briton to celebrate a fantastic year in motorsport with his F1 title alongside Anthony Davidson’s success in the WEC championship and our success in the GP2 and GP3 series with Jolyon Palmer and Alex Lynn.
Even though things are undecided regarding his future in Formula One right now, I would have to agree with Button and I feel that one race should not determine his career in Formula One. Button’s attitude and professional has been amenable and shows just how much he adores what he does; which is driving in a Formula One car to the best of his ability.
Let us not forget Button is a world champion and on his day can produce the goods on the circuit as well as drivers such as Lewis Hamilton and Sebastian Vettel. And it would be stupid in my opinion for McLaren not to retain Button for next season at least and use his fifteen years experience in the sport and to help settle Honda into McLaren using his experience earlier on in his career.
But all we can do is wait and see on the 1st December which direction McLaren will take with his driver line and I seriously hope that Button remains with the team for 2015; he has done more than enough to be there. If not, then Button will without question succeed in whatever direction he would then have to undergo to continue his motorsport career in the peak of his prime.
