I should have left F1 earlier - Button

Jenson Button has been discussing his life post-F1 as he prepares for the Le Mans race this Saturday, and has admitted that he should have stepped away from Formula 1 sooner, as he is currently enjoying life in other motorsports.

Button, who won the championship in 2009 endured an anti-climactic end to his F1 career with McLaren in 2016 with the team having struggled to compete in recent years.

And the Brit, who races with the Russian-owned SMP on Saturday as Le Mans kicks off, has claimed that he is extremely happy at the moment and that, perhaps, he should have called time on his F1 tenure a little sooner.

In an interview with ESPN, he said: "It's been awesome. I've definitely done my years in F1 and stepping away was great, it was a good time for me to do it.

"Realistically, if I'd had the choice, I would have left half-way through the year [2016].

"I'm much happier as a person now, life is great, and I'm racing things I've always wanted to race in."

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Button also spoke of his satisfaction at finally competing in the Le Mans race and admitted he is achieving a life ambition just be being involved.

He added: "Le Mans is something I also wanted to do but I didn't want to wait until I was 40 to do it," adds Button, who is now 38. "Who knows what's going to happen in two years, you'll have manufacturers involved and have more of a hypercar base, is what they are saying.

"They won't be as quick as these cars so it's nice to get into these monsters to drive round in. Doing anything around here in under three minutes twenty [seconds] is just madness. So that's very exciting."

The Englishman recently announced his engagement to former Playboy model, Brittny Ward.