Jenson Button has decided to extend his international racing career with a second season at the Hertz Team Jota operation as it becomes affiliated with a major manufacturer for the first time via Cadillac next year.
Jota completed a deal earlier this year to take over from Chip Ganassi Racing and run the Cadillac V-Series.R Hypercars in the 2025 World Endurance Championship.
In addition to Button, the team will run Cadillac stalwarts Alex Lynn, Sebastien Bourdais and Earl Bamber, as well as Jota regulars Will Stevens and Norman Nato.
Having raced a Jota-run customer Porsche hypercar in 2024, Button was initially unsure if he would continue in 2025 but made the decision at the end of the summer because, according to Jota co-owner Sam Hignett, “he just loves competing at a high level like this".
“I think he can see that even at a later stage of his career there are opportunities to win and fight for a title," Hignett told The Race.
"He’ll be a big part of the testing this winter and solidifying the team as we go from customer team to working with a major OEM with GM and Cadillac."
Is Button still quick enough to win?
Not that he really needed to but perhaps Jenson Button took some strength from Andre Lotterer taking the WEC crown this season at the age of 42, even after the German exited Porsche last month before subsequently declaring an added thirst for continuing his endurance career.
Button will hit 45 in January but looks as fit and focused as he ever did in Formula 1. He juggles his family and professional life efficiently and still has the air of a driver who wants to add to his roster of achievements in the sport. He looks more than capable of doing that.
When he arrived in the WEC paddock in February in Qatar, Button used his natural charm and occasional humbleness to set out his stall to the media. This was his first dedicated programme since his Super GT days five years before, and he came prepared to look, learn, and develop but aware it might take a bit of time.
So it proved. It started slowly in Qatar where Button appeared to struggle in relation to his team-mates Oliver Rasmussen and Phil Hanson over an average stint, being slower than both - occasionally by a decent chunk too.
He seemed to get frustrated with traffic on his return to endurance racing after a five-year absence and was unable to finish after a technical gremlin intervened in the final stages when a fifth place would have been on.
The second round at Imola featured inclement conditions during the race, so often a trigger for Button's heroics in his F1 past. But this time luck was against him when, of all things, a windscreen wiper failed and stymied his stints resulting in a lacklustre 13th.
There was more dejection at the following round at Spa when Button saw his team-mate Hanson shoved off the track by a BMW hypercar. The disappointment was soothed somewhat by the sister Jota Porsche winning the race overall after heroics by Callum Ilott and Will Stevens - the two standout Jota performers of the sextet of drivers throughout the 2024 season.
But by the Le Mans 24 Hours, Button was feeling more comfortable and methodically going through the lessons of the first three tumultuous rounds.
“I think what we saw was Jenson just finding his feet initially because it was his first full season in anything for a good amount of time,” says Hignett.
“By around Le Mans time, I’d say he was there and was much more in the rhythm.
Button's 2024 WEC results
Qatar - DNF
Imola - 11th
Spa - DNF
Le Mans - 9th
Interlagos - 7th
Austin - 10th
Fuji - 6th
Bahrain - 7th
Drivers' championship: 19th
“This championship is really at a high level now, and I’m not saying that it shocked him because he knew what he was getting into, but it certainly isn’t the type of championship where you can come in and just be mega straight away. You need time to calibrate a bit.”
Button, Rasmussen, and Hanson pulled together some decent results in the No.38 car in the final rounds, especially at Interlagos, Fuji and Bahrain which harnessed decent points for a seventh, sixth and seventh.
While the results didn’t illuminate the track as much as the delicious Hertz Team Jota livery, the 2024 campaign might just have been the preparation season that a driver of Button’s intelligence and finesse needed before a crack at really getting back on the top step of the podium in 2025.
Button a coup for Jota
Hignett also acknowledged that Button brings some kudos to the team he co-founded back almost 25 years ago, saying that “here is a certain amount of pride in the team of having someone like Jenson because he brings a great deal of experience in racing and also a certain status which I think rubs off on the team.
“He’s ultra-professional but also drives things on too, in a positive way. He’s just a good influence all round so we’re delighted to have him again for ’25.”
Button said that continuing with Jota as it metamorphoses into a factory team was “such a privilege as they’re a team steeped in success in endurance racing and an operation I’ve long admired".
“Those achievements and hard work have now led to this exciting next chapter seeing them partner with Cadillac, a marque which has already impressed with what it has achieved to date in both WEC and IMSA.
“The driver line-up is pretty impressive. We bring our collective experience of working with the Cadillac platform and the experience of working with Jota together. We have all the ingredients for a great season ahead."
What's now called Cadillac Hertz Team JOTA will conduct a shakedown of the Cadillac hypercar at the Anneau du Rhin circuit in France before a more concentrated test at Paul Ricard next month.