Jenson Button: The 24 Hours of Daytona cannot be compared to anything

Jenson Button’s season started, like many other international drivers, with the classic 24 Hours of Daytona marathon. The 2009 world champion spent his first time in the highest category of endurance racing, driving together with his partners the Acura ARX-06 hypercar of the WTRAndretti team – we told you that his team took 3rd place in the overall standings.

Naturally, this experience will be very useful for Jenson, because in 2024 he will spend a full season in the WEC, but as part of the British team Jota, and will participate in all eight stages of the championship with a sports prototype Porsche. 963.

“What an experience it was! I have participated in several endurance races in the past, but Daytona cannot be compared to anything,” Button shared his impressions after the finish. – If there are 60 cars on the track at the same time and everyone rushes through the banks, then this is comparable to playing “for the weak”, but at speeds of more than 300 km/h.

It was a lot of fun and I was lucky to do this race with WTRAndretti. The whole team did a great job and I only made a small contribution to the overall goal. Congratulations everyone on a well-deserved podium! We didn’t have enough speed to win, although WTRAndretti managed to get the most out of the car – that was the case this weekend.

We did a great job, so thanks to the team for all their hard work, and to my teammates Jordan Taylor, Louis Deletraz and Colton Herta for letting me join them at Daytona! Good luck in the remaining 24-hour races of the IMSA series season!”

Jenson Button wasn’t the only former Formula 1 driver to start at Daytona, but many others failed to finish – among the losers this year were Marcus Ericsson, Brendon Hartley, Sebastien Bourdais, Alexander Rossi and Romain Grosjean and Paul Di Resta .