Jenson Button on sleep deprivation at Le Mans: "I've got two kids, I know what it's like not sleeping"

The Le Mans 24 Hours can be gruelling for drivers – all the more so when they’re older? Button doesn’t think so

When you go to the Le Mans 24 Hours as a journalist, there’s a list of evergreen topics that come up every year: traffic, rain, nighttime driving, traffic again… and sleep.

The schedule can be gruelling for drivers, with practice running until 12am on Wednesday and Thursday nights, and media commitments in the morning. On Saturday and Sunday, it’s easy for the 24-hour race to turn into a 36-hour day, from Saturday morning – when you want to be at the track early to beat the traffic – to Sunday night.

Does it get more difficult as drivers age? On the contrary, Cadillac Jota driver Jenson Button reckons his fatherly experience gives him the edge.

“A 22-year-old doesn’t have kids, most of the time, so they don't know what sleep deprivation is yet until they get here – so it's more of a shock,” said 45-year-old Button. “For me, I've got two kids, I know what it's like not sleeping.

“I'm also very good at sleeping anyway – I could go on that couch and within two minutes be asleep. So I'm very, very lucky. So when I get out of the car, I eat, I shower, I'm straight to sleep. I have no issues with that, so I'm one of the lucky ones.

“I think last year, Seb [Bourdais] said that he struggled to sleep. But last year when we had the safety car through the night, I was driving for three and a half hours behind the safety car, which is the most boring three and a half hours of my life – but that meant that all the other drivers could sleep really well, they were in the paddock. Hopefully that won't be the case this year!”

#38 Cadillac Hertz Team Jota Cadillac V-Series.R: Earl Bamber, Sebastien Bourdais, Jenson Button

Photo by: Nikolaz Godet

Button also reflected on his peculiar experience driving a Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 with Hendrick Motorsports in the 2023 running of the race – his second-ever appearance at La Sarthe – via the Garage 56 innovative entry.

“I had the chance to race the NASCAR Cup car here, which initially was like, ‘that's just nuts, why would I want to drive a NASCAR around the clock?’ And then I got involved with the testing program, it was so much fun to drive and the atmosphere was great – and also how serious they took it, how professional Hendrick were,” the Briton recalled.

“And to come here with a Garage 56 and be as competitive as it was, and nobody thought it would be anywhere near the GTEs… it was a lot of fun.

“I remember the drivers' briefing, they said that when the NASCAR went through the Porsche curves they were going to put white flags out, because they thought it would be so slow. And we ended up outqualifying all the GTE cars, so it was a nice, fun car to drive, and a good experience for the whole team.

“But obviously I wanted to come back in a car that could fight for a win in Hypercars, so that's why the Jota story started with the Porsche 963, and then with it becoming a manufacturer team this year, I jumped at the chance to be racing here with the Cadillac.”