2009 Formula 1 champion Jenson Button has identified the 24-Hour races at Le Mans and Daytona as his next challenge in motorsport.
The Briton has been focusing on sportscars since his final F1 appearance at the 2017 Monaco Grand Prix, competing in Japan with Honda and in WEC with SMP Racing.
And though Button recently admitted he might be “past it” at the grand old age of 39, he insists the passion still burns bright.
“I’m still racing and I don’t want to give that up, I’m still enjoying it. I’m still looking for new challenges,” he told F1’s Beyond the Grid podcast.
“I won the Super GT championship last year with my teammate Naoki [Yamamoto]. This year has been a bit of a disaster, but it’s just one of those things.
“I did Le Mans, but obviously not with a team that could win Le Mans, but for the experience. I would love to go and race at Le Mans again and fight for the win.”
Indeed as the WEC prepares to embark on a new era of its own after the current ‘superseason’, Button is certainly leaving that door wide open.
“High downforce cars are what I need, I need the Le Mans style cars,” he said. “I’d love to do hypercars. I’d love to help build a car that can go and win Le Mans.
“I’d love to do other endurance races, Daytona is one.”
Though embracing the challenge that comes with having teammates in the same car, Button does admit his speciality means he would also like to drive for himself.
“Team sports really interest me, but I also want to race something where it’s just me in the car,” he explained.
“So, I get more time to drive it, get more time to set it up because I’m one of those drivers that really needs to find a car that works for them.
“I need to find a balance that works for me, and it’s different to most drivers. So, if I don’t have that, I’ll never be as strong.
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“Someone like Lewis [Hamilton] is very strong at wringing a cars neck, even if the balance doesn’t quite suit him, for me, if I get the best balance and I get the balance that suits my driving style and it works, I feel like I’m unbeatable but if I don’t have it, I’m very beatable.
“So, it’s tricky when you’re sharing a car with someone, I mean it worked last year, we won the championship, but I do miss that a little bit with setting a car up how I want it to be.”