page_title: Jenson Button
section_title: 2013–2015
hierarchical_section_title: Jenson Button / McLaren (2010–2017) / 2013–2015
caption_attribution_description: Jenson Button (McLaren)
context_page_description: Jenson Alexander Lyons Button MBE is a British racing driver and former Formula One racer who won the 2009 Formula One World Championship driving for Brawn GP. After his Formula One career, he became a champion of the Super GT Series in 2018, driving a Honda car for Team Kunimitsu.
  Button began karting at the age of eight and achieved early success, before progressing to car racing in the British Formula Ford Championship and the British Formula 3 Championship. He first drove in Formula One with Williams for 2000. The following year he switched to Benetton, which in 2002 became Renault, and then for 2003 he moved to BAR. In 2004 he finished third in the World Drivers' Championship, falling to ninth in 2005. BAR was subsequently renamed Honda for 2006, during which Button won his first Grand Prix in Hungary, after 113 races.
  Following the withdrawal of Honda from the sport in December 2008, Button was left without a team for the 2009 season. In February 2009, Ross Brawn led a management buyout of Honda, creating Brawn GP and recruiting Button as a driver.
context_section_description: Button was joined at McLaren by Ferrari Driver Academy graduate Sergio Pérez for 2013 and their relationship was cooler because the latter entered the team hastily. He was appointed a director of the Grand Prix Drivers' Association (GPDA) in March 2013. McLaren developed the MP4-28 car not in advance of regulation changes for 2014, but rather constructed it from scratch. This caused Button to drive an unstable car with understeer, a lack of downforce and severe tyre degradation. After finishing ninth at the season-opening Australian Grand Prix, McLaren introduced components from the MP4-27 onto the MP4-28, which had no significant effect and Button continued to attain sub-par results over the course of the season with a best of fourth at the season-ending Brazilian Grand Prix. He finished the season ninth in the Drivers' Championship with 73 points. Button was involved in aggressive driving from his teammate Pérez early in the season in Bahrain and Monaco, annoying him.
  He activated the terms of his contract to stay with McLaren for 2014 in September 2013, but considered taking a sabbatical from Formula One following the unexpected death of his father in Monaco in January 2014. Button was joined by Kevin Magnussen, with whom he was able to build a rapport, and his MP4-29 car had an understeer from lacking front downforce and an unstable rear. He finished third at the season-opening Australian Grand Prix after Red Bull Racing driver Daniel Ricciardo was disqualified for an fuel flow consumption infringement and his team lost an subsequent appeal against the decision. Button achieved a quartet of fourth-place finishes and scored points seven more times for eighth in the Drivers' Championship with 126 points. Button qualified better than Magnussen ten times and scored twice as many points as him.
  Button became unenthusiastic over Formula One and the press speculated on his future in the sport with rumors Fernando Alonso would be Magnussen's teammate in 2015. He wanted to remain at McLaren but was made insecure about his career and told himself to concentrate on the present and not be concerned about the future. Dennis did not want Button to drive for McLaren but fellow team shareholder Mansour Ojjeh told him Button should remain over Magnussen after reviewing the situation. Negotiations between Button and McLaren racing director Éric Boullier and team owner Ron Dennis concluded with an agreement for Button to continue racing on 10 December. Button agreed to take a pay cut, with his contract containing the option for a second year; McLaren or Button were able to activate clauses to break the contract after the season if one of the parties desired it. Button struggled over the course of the season due to an unreliable and an underpowered Honda engine lacking straightline speed, securing four top-ten finishes and a best result of sixth at the United States Grand Prix. He was rarely able to progress past the first qualifying session and was 16th in the Drivers' Championship with 16 points.
caption: Button driving at the 2013 Italian Grand Prix
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