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Button to work on team, not car development at McLaren in 2017
Jenson Button says his role within McLaren next year will see him take an overview of the team itself, rather than interact with the race drivers on car development.
Adam Cooper
Edited: Nov 10, 2016, 9:23 PM
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Button, who will give up his seat to Stoffel Vandoorne in the F1 2017 season, believes that stepping back from the driving side will allow him to use his experience to pinpoint areas that can be improved.
“I won’t be spending a lot of time with them [the drivers]," Button said. “I won’t be developing the car, because I won’t be driving it. My involvement will be more helping the team to develop as a whole.
"I’ve got a lot of experience working with different teams from a drivers’ point of view. When you step back and have look at the team, there will be areas where I can see we still need work. I think I can help with that, from my experience with the sport.
“When you’re driving, you’re focussed on your driving, you can’t focus on anything else. F1 takes over your life, and it’s all about the development of the car and working with your engineers. You don’t look at the bigger picture.”
Motivation still strong
Meanwhile, Button insisted that his motivation isn’t flagging as he approaches his final five races.
“I was asked before ‘What do you think about giving feedback knowing that it’s not going to be used for your car next year?’.
"It doesn’t matter, I’m not going to be working for a rival team. Of course I’m going to give all the feedback I can, I want to see the team do well, I’m still part of the team.
“So I will enjoy every race. Every race I go in for, you want to do the best job you can, you want to outqualify your teammate, you want to beat him in a race, as well as get as many points as you can.
“That never changes. I don’t think that ever changes, however long you’re in the sport. You don’t get tired, you’ll always feel you want to do that. But for me, I need a rest from that pressure that I put on myself to succeed. I want to rest and enjoy myself and have some time to myself.”
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