Jenson Button’s 5 greatest non-F1 races

5. Goodwood Revival, 2022

Button has retired as a pro, but he has every intention of racing on in historics. The fire was lit at Goodwood, and this year he took his first win at the Revival. But we recall his second appearance three years ago and a majestic performance in the RAC TT Celebration. A broken gearbox in Adrian Newey’s famously hot(rod) Jaguar E robbed him of a first win on British soil in more than 20 years, but only after he’d opened a 20sec gap over the field – despite a safety car!

4. Formula 3 Thruxton, 1999

Button was outgunned in his single-season Formula 3 campaign with Promatecme. But he still won three times to finish a decent third behind Manor’s champion Marc Hynes and PSR’s Luciano Burti. A convincing victory at Thruxton in only his third F3 race, having shrugged off Burti, set the tone. He was beaten by Darren Manning for the end-of-season victory at Macau, but it didn’t matter. Jenson was soon an increasingly prominent blip on the F1 radar.

3. Formula Ford Brands Hatch, 1998

In his first year racing cars, the karting hotshot had lived up to the hype. By the season-ending Formula Ford Festival, Button was already British champion, even if he had lost the European title to Mygale team-mate Derek Hayes. More experienced Van Diemen rival Dan Wheldon had shown to be more streetwise through the season, but at Brands, Button had new steel. A robust move at Clearways on the last lap left Wheldon picking gravel as Button clinched a cherished victory.

2. World Endurance Championship Interlagos, 2025

Button has had a ball in sports car racing. He didn’t manage a WEC victory but won friends and admiration for his application and team spirit. The best performances in his first full year, in Jota’s customer Porsche 963 in 2024, came at Le Mans and Fuji. But this year, Jota stepped up a gear as Cadillac’s works team – and Button did too. Second in Brazil, sharing with Sébastien Bourdais and Earl Bamber, was a high, especially as it completed a Jota 1-2.

1. Super GT Motegi, 2018

Fresh out of Formula 1, Jenson Button embraced the bombastic GT scene in Japan, a country he fell in love with long ago. And it went pretty well. Paired with Naoki Yamamoto in a Team Kunimitsu Honda NSX-GT500, Button stood on the podium in two of his first three races and tasted a maiden win at Sugo. By season’s end at Motegi, the duo found themselves in the thick of a title showdown. Button’s final stint, in which he secured third place, crucially meant they finished ahead of future Toyota Hypercar ace Ryo Hirakawa and soon-to-be Formula E frontrunner Nick Cassidy to secure the championship. The first series rookie to win the title since 2005, ending a Honda Super GT drought dating back seven years… Jenson rated it on a par with his F1 crown.