Button: “There’s always next year”

Jenson Button did not have great success in his first start at the 24 Hours of Le Mans. The driver of the #1 SMP Racing BR11 saw his car held in the garage for several hours before even getting behind the wheel in the race due to a sensor problem.

If the 2009 world champion F1 and his teammates Mikhail Aleshin and Vitaly Petrov started a comeback race from last position, the weekend ended with a retirement less than an hour from the finish following an engine failure.

“My report from Le Mans arrives very late, but I have been in “recovery” mode! Where I left, Le Mans was a great experience and being part of the field is a very special feeling. Twice I did a quintuple stint with a maximum of 3 hours 40 minutes at the wheel, but at no time did I want to hand over the wheel to my teammates, except when I needed a little nap.", comments Jenson Button on his Instagram account.

“Experiencing the sunset and sunrise behind the wheel is something you never get tired of. We had no downtime in this experience-rich race, even for someone like me who spent 17 years in F1. It's just a shame we didn't make it to the finish. There's always next year as they say and we'll be up for the challenge and ready to fight... Finally, congratulations to car #8 (the Toyota TS 050 Hybrid Buemi-Alonso-Nakajima) for finally achieving the victory that was truly deserved”, specifies the Briton.

 

Very late post Le Man post but I've been in recovery mode! Where do I start, what a wonderful experience racing at Le Mans is, whatever the result just being part of the circus is a very special feeling, I did 2×5 stints with my longest time strapped into the car being 3hrs40 but at no point did I want to hand over to my team mates apart from needing a week! Experiencing sunset and sunrise from behind the wheel is something you never get tired of, the race was nonstop action and new experiences even for someone like me who's spent 17years in F1, just a pity we couldn't make it to the end. There's always next year as they say and we will be ready for it, ready to fight big thanks to the whole @smp_racing team and my team mates @vitalypetrov @aleshin_official and the sister car @e_orudzhev @matos4727 & Steph Sarrazin. Next stop Silverstone in front of the home crowd which will be pretty awesome Finally congrats to the #8 car for finally grabbing the win which was very well deserved

A publication shared by Jenson Button (@jensonbutton_22) 20 June 2018 to 6: 41 PDT

Discover the analysis of the 24 Hours of Le Mans carried out by our special correspondents in issue 2170 of AUTOhebdo, available now in digital version on all platforms and on kiosks.