Jenson Button will no longer compete for Jota-Cadillac as a full-time driver in the WEC in 2026 – Here are the reasons given by the former Formula 1 driver
Jenson Button will not be competing for the Jota Cadillac team in the World Endurance Championship (WEC) next season. The 2009 Formula 1 world champion has decided against completing a full racing program in 2026 – but emphasizes that he is not retiring.
Button, who had signed a two-year contract with Jota for the 2024 and 2025 seasons, cited his diverse professional commitments, including his role as a TV pundit for Sky F1, as well as family reasons for stepping away from full-time racing.
“Life has just become too full with so many different things – my schedule is very busy,” said Button. “It’s time to think a little more about the future, and I want to spend more time with my family.”
This is not retirement
“It’s also unfair to the team: I probably don’t have enough time to contribute as much as would be necessary – especially next year.” Button makes it clear that he wants to continue racing in 2026: “I will race in some form next year, but not a full season.”
When asked whether a return to the NASCAR Cup Series, where he competed in three races in 2023, was an option, he replied cautiously: “Maybe, we’ll see.” Button’s post-Formula 1 career has included starts in various series, including two appearances in the WEC – the first in 2018/19 with four races in SMP Racing’s AER-powered BR1 LMP1 prototype.
His contract with Jota, for whom he completed his first full program in the Porsche 963 LMDh in the WEC in 2023, was his first full racing season since his two-year stint in the Super GT series with Team Kunimitsu Honda in 2018 and 2019 , which was crowned with the title win alongside Naoki Yamamoto in its first year.
Replacement to be announced later
Button also competed for his own teams in the British GT and Extreme E, among others, as well as in the IMSA and Nitro Rallycross Championship. Jota team boss Sam Hignett, whose team Cadillac secured its first WEC victory at Interlagos last weekend, spoke openly about Button’s departure when discussing the driver line-up for Cadillac’s factory WEC team for 2026.
“There will be a change; one driver has made his future very public,” he said. “Other than that, the rest remains the same.” When asked about a possible replacement for the departing driver, Hignett declined to comment and made it clear that no announcement would be made before the WEC season finale in Bahrain in November.
