Jenson Button has committed to racing in the World Endurance Championship for Hertz Team JOTA in the Hypercar category over the course of the 2024 season.
Formula 1 World Champion Jenson Button announced his commitment to race in the 2024 FIA World Endurance Championship Hypercar category with Hertz Team JOTA after participating in more than 300 grand prix and winning the F1 championship in 2009 with Brawn.
Button will drive the #38 car which is a Porsche 963 Hypercar run by Jota, and will be joined in the driver’s seat by 2020 LMP2 class winner at the 24 Hours of Le Mans Philip Hanson and young Dane Oliver Rasmussen. Meanwhile, retired F1 driver Will Stevens will be driving the sister Jota for the coming year.
It is anticipated that Button will participate in all eight World Endurance Championship rounds next year, including a second round in the Hypercar category in the 24 Hours of Le Mans.
Since leaving Formula 1 behind, Button has competed in a number of racing series. He has raced in the World Endurance Championship, Japanese Super GT, NASCAR Cup, DTM and IMSA among others. The British driver has previously stated that he prefers to be classified as a racing driver rather than just a Formula 1 driver.
This year’s 100th anniversary of Le Mans saw Button feature in the hugely popular Garage 56 entry, where he raced a modified NASCAR Cup car at the Circuit de la Sarthe alongside former Le Mans winner Mike Rockenfeller and NASCAR legend Jimmie Johnson.
Their pace was so impressive that they qualified more than four seconds ahead of the fastest LMGTE Am car. Button later described the transformation of a NASCAR Cup car to go up against endurance racers as a “staggering” accomplishment.
During the 2018–19 super season, Button made an attempt to participate in the FIA WEC series by driving for SMP Racing in the LMP1 class.
“I’m excited to be racing with Hertz Team JOTA in the 2024 World Endurance Championship alongside my team-mates Oliver Rasmussen and Phil Hanson,” Button said. “Both already have a lot of experience in endurance racing and that is key.
“Endurance racing is about teamwork and there is no better team than Hertz Team JOTA to be taking on the big manufacturers in hypercars.
“I’m already looking forward to the first race in Qatar but also know there’s a lot of work to be done so that we arrive prepared.”
WEC CEO Frederic Lequien expressed his appreciation for having a household name enter the endurance series.
“It’s an honour to have Jenson Button – a hugely successful driver across many racing disciplines – competing full-time in the WEC next year,” he said.
“With nine manufacturers in the hypercar category next year including star names such as Jenson confirmed on the grid, everything is now in place for the WEC to have its most spectacular season yet.”
Alpine, BMW, Lamborghini and Aston Martin will all launch hypercar projects in 2024, with Aston Martin following suit in 2025. The first round of the 2024 FIA WEC season begins on March 1 in Doha, Qatar.
Before the start of 2024 WEC, the British driver will participate in the 2024 IMSA season opener, the 24 Hours of Daytona, for WTR Andretti driving the #40 Acura ARX-06 GTP car on January 27 and 28.
