F1 champion retires after completing his final race

The 2009 F1 champion Jenson Button has officially retired from racing after competing in his final World Endurance Championship race the Bahrain 8 Hours.

Button announced that he would retire from racing at the end of 2025, with the champion instead choosing to focus on spending time with his family.

The British driver retired from F1 in 2016 and has since competed in the Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters (DTM) and the NASCAR Cup Series, winning the Super GT - GT500 series in 2018.

Button joined WEC full-time in 2024 with Hertz Team Jota, and has now completed his final race with the Cadillac Hertz Team Jota in the last race of the 2025 season in Bahrain.

Speaking ahead of his final race, Button said: “I’m sure when I get out of the car, it will be something very different. I’m looking forward to getting in the car, 70 more laps in the Cadillac is going to be very short but I will do my best to enjoy every single one of them.

“I’m looking forward to this last race and then, on Sunday, everything changes. To even be in with a shot of fighting for the WEC world championship as a team is mega in the team’s first year as a manufacturer. Fighting with Porsche and Ferrari, that’s just impressive.

“I definitely leave at a good point for this team, I wish them luck for next year and think they can fight for this world championship, which is awesome.

“It’s a nice way to end my professional racing career with a team I call family.”

2025 WEC Bahrain 8 Hours results

Alongside team-mates Sebastian Bourdais and Earl Bamber, Button only managed 16th place in his final WEC race, finishing two laps down after causing a collision with the Ferrari of Thomas Flohr.

Button was slammed with a 30-second stop/go penalty for the incident, after Flohr ended up in the barriers and a safety car was deployed.

Elsewhere in Bahrain, Ferrari celebrated championship success with the trio of James Calado, Alessandro Pier Guidi and Antonio Giovinazzi, sealing the drivers’ title with a fourth place finish at the event.

Kamui Kobayashi, Mike Conway, and Nyck de Vries secured the victory at the Bahrain 8 Hours for Toyota, the team's first win since Bahrain last year.

No official replacement has been announced for Button at Cadillac in 2026, although former F1 driver Mick Schumacher was linked to the seat in the summer.

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