Former Formula 1 world champion Jenson Button believes his ex-teammate at McLaren, Fernando Alonso, has “made the right decision” to leave the grid at the end of 2018.
The pair were back racing against each other this past weekend in the World Endurance Championship at Silverstone, with the Spaniard winning his third race in a row for Toyota alongside Sebastien Buemi and Kazuki Nakajima only to be disqualified as the car failed post-race scrutineering.
Even so, Button, who retired himself after a one-off return at the 2017 Monaco Grand Prix and had previously called on Alonso to “do something else”, fully backs the 37-year-old’s quest to race elsewhere.
“I said to him he’s finally made the right decision. He’s woken up and smelled the coffee, as we say,” he said on Sunday.
“It’s always down to the individual when they choose to leave F1. He’s done the same thing as what I chose to do, leave but leave it open for one year after to go back.
“I think that’s the right option to do. But if the McLaren’s quick and it’s winning races, he’ll be back in F1.”
Button, who has also been racing in Japan’s Super GT series with Honda alongside his WEC duties with LMP1 team SMP Racing, also heaped praise on Alonso as he reflected on their two seasons together at McLaren.
“Discussing his retirement means nothing, it’s more his career, it’s been exceptional. To win two world championships and be close on a couple of other times, there aren’t many people who get to do that,” he said.
“We were teammates, so I know exactly the strengths and weaknesses for Fernando. It was really, really enjoyable racing with Fernando and against him as a teammate.
“My toughest teammate, really enjoyed it though. My late father always respected Fernando, and that’s always a good judge of character. He used to get on very well with my father as well, Fernando.
“It’s really nice to race with him.”
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The 38-year-old also used his own post-F1 activities as proof that the name Fernando Alonso will still be on a racetrack somewhere for many years yet.
“He’s still going to be racing until he’s 95 years old. He races more than me, he’s at the karting school in Spain all the time, driving, teaching. He’s obviously racing in WEC.
“I think next year he’ll still have a busy schedule. You can’t stop a racing driver racing. I thought I could stop, but I can’t,” he admitted.
