Jenson Button has not yet decided which championship he will participate in next year and is choosing between the American IMSA series and the WEC. World Endurance Championship.
The former Formula 1 driver will pilot the JDC-Miller Motorsports Porsche 963 hypercar at Road Atlanta this weekend in the IMSA season finale.
“I have a number of options in the WEC, but I can also do a full season in the IMSA championship,” Button told Sportscar365. “There’s no point in agreeing to this if I can’t spend enough time on it and do all the necessary testing, as I’d like to try some other approaches.”
I can just get behind the wheel and set a more or less competitive time, but my strength lies mainly in my ability to tune the car. This weekend I don’t have that option because I don’t have time for it. Honestly, this isn’t necessary because my partner, Mike Rockenfeller, is very good at this.
But I would like to work on tests according to my program, knowing that this is the only way I can achieve maximum results. Otherwise such a project would make no sense.”
The 2009 world champion admitted that one of the possible options he is talking about is a contract with British WEC team Jota: “Yes, I have already spoken to them and I think they are a great team. I think they have every chance of success. But this weekend in IMSA the Penske team (with the same Porsche 963 hypercars) is faster than our JDC, because they have studied the car much better.
They worked on tests all year, but JDC had no such opportunity. But we can see how Penske works and use their information. I think teams like JDC or Jota should organize tests on a sufficient scale, because hypercars are very complex vehicles and fine-tuning takes time.
I’ve also spoken to one of the factory teams, but I’m not sure if this is the route I want to take. I like teams that race because they love racing, not because they have to sell cars.
I understand that factory teams also want to race and win, but with independent teams there is a family atmosphere. If they are not inferior to the factory teams in terms of competitiveness, then I would prefer to play for one of these teams.”
Source: F1 News
I am Christopher Clyde, an experienced journalist and content writer with a passion for sports. I have been writing about Formula 1 news for the past five years and am currently employed as an author at athletistic.com, one of the top sports websites in the US.
