Photo: Roger Jenkins
2009 Formula One World Champion, who left McLaren at the end of the 2016 season to pursue other motorsport interests, is contesting his first 24 Hours of Le Mans in 2018
Button is part of the driver line-up for the #11 SMP Racing BR Engineering BR1-AER entry, with teammates Vitaly Petrov and Mikhail Aleshin.
Jenson took two minutes out of his busy race-week build-up to speak to EnduranceandGT Editor Andy Lloyd about his thoughts on the French classic and the challenges of racing on motorsport’s biggest stage.
Jenson, now that we are in to race-week, how are you feeling about making your debut at the Circuit de la Sarthe?
“I’m looking forward to it . The race is just around the corner but also so far away. It’s a long, long week here but I’m very excited to get in the car and see what we’ve got and then get underway for the 24 Hours.”
What is the biggest challenge for a highly skilled single-seater driver coming in to endurance racing like this?
“I think for a lot of people it would be the traffic, the difference in speeds and the closing speeds. Also it’s just completely different to a Formula One car. I’ve enjoyed it so far but I still need more laps in the car to get fully acquainted with it but I’m enjoying the process.”
First Practice for the 2018 running of the 24 Hours of Le Mans begins at 16:00 on Wednesday June 13 with the lights going out for the start of the race at 15:00 on Saturday June 16.
