Button set for British GT debut with McLaren

Jenson Button will wind back the clock to compete in a British domestic championship for the first time in over two decades when he joins the field for the British GT Championship finale at Silverstone.

Button, whose last British championship appearance came on his run to third in British Formula 3 back in 1999, will share a McLaren 720S GT3 with close friend Chris Buncombe for British GT’s showpiece three-hour Silverstone 500 event on November 7/8.

Since his retirement from Formula 1, the 2009 world champion has raced in a variety of different series, including Japanese Super GT, the FIA World Endurance Championship, and even endurance rallying in the Baja 1000.

He and Buncombe also co-founded the Jenson Team Rocket RJN team which fields a McLaren in British GT for World’s Fastest Gamer winner James Baldwin and Michael O’Brien. The team will now expand to a second entry to accommodate the two bosses.

“This will be my first taste of a GT3 car but I’m really looking forward it,” said Button. “It will be lovely to join our team and line up in the McLaren with my best buddy Chris. It’s great to come back and race on UK soil again. It’s just a shame we can’t have any fans for the final round [due to Covid restrictions].”

RAM Racing Mercedes-AMG duo Sam De Haan and Patrick Kujala lead the championship standings ahead of the season finale, with Barwell Lamborghini pair Rob Collard and Sandy Mitchell just six points behind.