First Felipe, now Jenson

[FullMetalJack]

Word has broken on Twitter via journalists that Jenson Button will also be retiring from Formula 1 at the end of the 2016 season, with Stoffel Vandoorne his replacement. No source from the likes of Autosport yet, but the likes of James Allen and Will Buxton are reporting it on Twitter, so I think that's enough evidence.

I'll be really sad to see the last of Button behind the wheel of a Formula 1 car, but he won a World Championship, which is more than I ever expected him to win. Thanks for the memories Jenson.

[Aguaman]

According to what I read. He is the reserve driver and has a race option in 2018. It's just a sabbatical.

[FullMetalJack]

It's just a sabbatical.

That's what Mika Hakkinen said.

[Aguaman]

It's just a sabbatical.

That's what Mika Hakkinen said.

That he did but Jense might race. Who knows.

[Meatwad]

Great news that Vandoorne finally has a seat! He should have had one for years already.

On the other hand, it's sad to see two of the veterans leave. That means we only have Alonso and Räikkönen from what I consider the previous generation of F1. When they leave, Hamilton, Rosberg and Vettel will be the old guys on the grid, which shows how time flies...

[Francis23]

Such a shame to see him go, but at the same time Mclaren now look formidable for the future.

My predictions on the silly season thread starting to come true

[Londoner]

My childhood is retiring. I remember when Massa, Button, Alonso and Raikkonen were talked about as the future of Formula One, and now two of them are going, and it surely won't be long until the other two go.

It really is the end of an era. Cheers Jenson for all the good times.

[Ataxia]

I'm with Londoner, it's sad to see such a big portion of familiar faces move on...but at the same time, their times were coming to an end. Button is a class act, and hopefully he'll make some TV appearances next season.

What this does mean is that Williams still have a free seat. Perez seems to be remaining at Force India, Stroll's got big bucks to try and land it, and Wehrlein might be a left-field option. I don't see Lynn making the step up.

[DemocalypseNow]

"This isn't a retirement, this is a McLaren permanent sabbatical"
- Pretentious McLaren copywriter, 2016.

Next week, they'll be announcing a "conscious uncoupling of our professional relationship" with Nyck De Vries.

[Yannick]

Both are too young and too good to retire. However, this brings me closer to getting myself a "Stoffel" T-shirt.

[Paul Hayes]

I'm very disappointed about Button not racing next year. It feels very end-of-an-era for me, as I was still in school uniform when he made his debut - literally half a lifetime ago for me, as I'm 32 now!

[andrew]

Sad to see him go, but they had to give stoffel the seat, he had done everything right and deserves a place in f1.

[Dj_bereta]

Wow, I thought he was moving to Williams to end his career, but a potential retirement? Also, I think Button is gambling with this sabbatical year too with a future Alonso retirement and the possibility of Mclaren building a winner car in the future.

[lance_rambert]

Just for posterity, McLaren themselves confirm it. Per their website, Button's still going to hang around the garage through 2018. He probably is in McLaren's pocket if Alonso calls it quits after 2017.

[rachel1990]

Sad to see Jenson go but I suppose again it was an ideal time to change roles with the new regulations coming in next season.

[mario]

Just for posterity, McLaren themselves confirm it. Per their website, Button's still going to hang around the garage through 2018. He probably is in McLaren's pocket if Alonso calls it quits after 2017.

It does seem to be the case that Button does has an option in his contract for a race seat in 2018 - Alonso has openly floated the idea of leaving F1 if he finds the 2017 cars are not interesting enough, so it feels as if McLaren are covering off that possibility by leaving the door open to Button in 2018.

It is probably about the best compromise that McLaren could arrange in the circumstances, and it looks like it might be the best deal that Button could arrange at the moment as well (amid the rumours that Stroll is now getting Massa'a seat at Williams). It does feel a little bit odd in one sense though, since now I'm not sure if I should be writing a tribute to him if he might be coming back next year.

[Rob Dylan]

Button to replace Alonso for 2018 when the latter retires in dislike of Formula 1, with the former winning the championship in a Prost 1993 repeat You heard it here first

[watka]

Button to replace Alonso for 2018 when the latter retires in dislike of Formula 1, with the former winning the championship in a Prost 1993 repeat You heard it here first

Well Jenson has been compared to Prost...

[dr-baker]

Button to replace Alonso for 2018 when the latter retires in dislike of Formula 1, with the former winning the championship in a Prost 1993 repeat You heard it here first

Well Jenson has been compared to Prost...

Prost returned in 1993 to win the title in a... Williams. I'm up for Jenson to repeat that trick...

[Klon]

And nothing of value was lost.

[Miguel98]

And nothing of value was lost.

Same could be said when Rubens retired. At least Button retired by beieng on pace with Alonso, instead of beeing shite.

[Klon]

And nothing of value was lost.

Same could be said when Rubens retired. At least Button retired by beieng on pace with Alonso, instead of beeing shite.

At first I decided to not dignify such weak bait with a response. However, how will you learn with nobody to teach you?

Therefore, take this free lesson: effective provocation requires subtlety. If the victim of your ruse cruise believes your sole desire is riling him or her up, it will ignore it and put your attempted "trolling" in the same category as a child throwing a tantrum.

You are welcome.

[Miguel98]

And nothing of value was lost.

Same could be said when Rubens retired. At least Button retired by beieng on pace with Alonso, instead of beeing shite.

At first I decided to not dignify such weak bait with a response. However, how will you learn with nobody to teach you?

Therefore, take this free lesson: effective provocation requires subtlety. If the victim of your ruse cruise believes your sole desire is riling him or her up, it will ignore it and put your attempted "trolling" in the same category as a child throwing a tantrum.

You are welcome.

I did what you always do with us Klon. Hard to be on the other side of things right?

[EuroBrun]

Sad to hear that, but the time has come: it is even sadder to see him and Alonso fighting to enter the top-10.

[Spectoremg]

I'll be sorry to see him go too. I'm more sorry at the way his career has petered out; there was easily another championship in him.
As for his option on 2018, does anyone seriously see a 38 year old being given a race seat?

[mario]

I'll be sorry to see him go too. I'm more sorry at the way his career has petered out; there was easily another championship in him.
As for his option on 2018, does anyone seriously see a 38 year old being given a race seat?

I guess that it would depend on what other options McLaren might have at the time instead.

The odds are undoubtedly against it, especially given how McLaren have tended to treat Button in previous rounds of negotiations, but if McLaren were in a situation where they wanted an experienced driver on a short term contract (i.e. if they needed somebody for one year whilst they worked on securing another driver from 2019 onwards), they could potentially call Button up as a stop gap measure. That scenario does suggest that the most likely scenario for Button being called up in 2018 would be if Alonso made a late decision to retire from F1 after most other drivers had their contracts in place for 2018 (say, if he quit just before or during the pre-season tests in 2018).

[dinizintheoven]

I'm very disappointed about Button not racing next year. It feels very end-of-an-era for me, as I was still in school uniform when he made his debut - literally half a lifetime ago for me, as I'm 32 now!

I left my school uniform behind, and then, two and a half months later, Max Verstappen was born.

[CoopsII]

I'm not sure I like this end to Buttons career. I'd prefer it if he just retired at the end of the season rather than this 'possible return in 2018' guff. If he were a younger man then I could believe it maybe.

[WeirdKerr]

Strange to think that when Button first raced in F1, Max Verstappen was probably still in nappies and Max's dad was still racing for Arrows