BUTTON: I WAS ON THE CUSP OF A DRIVE FOR FERRARI IN FORMULA 1
British F1 superstar was on the point of switch from McLaren to Italy in the early 2010s
Formula 1 champion Jenson Button has told Motorsport News he almost moved from McLaren to Ferrari in the early 2010s and says he would love to have raced for the legendary Italian team.
The 15-time grand prix winner tackles the MN readers’ Q&A this week and gives a revealing insight into talks that almost meant he switched to Maranello in the early part of the 2010s decade.
Button told Motorsport News: “There was a good possibility sort of eight years ago but it didn’t materialise at the end. Pretty much contracts were ready to go but for many different reasons it didn’t [happen] and I was probably better off where I was.
“There’s just something about that team. I would love to have raced for Ferrari at some point.”
On whether the move meant racing alongside Fernando Alonso, Button said “possibly”.
Formula 1 star Jenson Button has told Motorsport News he nearly switched from McLaren to Ferrari in the early 2010s, and would have loved to race for the Italian outfit.
The 2009 world champion joined McLaren in 2010 and won eight races in his first three seasons there, and remained with the squad until his F1 retirement in 2017. He told MN however that during his McLaren spell negotiations for a Ferrari move reached an advanced stage, with contracts in place. Button signed new McLaren contracts starting in 2012 and ’15 while contemporary reports linked him with a Ferrari move for 2013.
“There was a good possibility sort of eight years ago that [a Ferrari move] would have happened but it just didn’t materialise at the end,” Button told MN. “Pretty much contracts were ready to go and it almost happened but for many different reasons it didn’t and to be fair I was probably better off where I was anyway at McLaren.”
When asked by MN if the Ferrari move would have meant racing alongside twotime world champion Fernando Alonso, Button replied “possibly”. Alonso’s Ferrari spell stretched from 2010 to ’14.