• Latest
  • Trending

Button reveals how close he came to joining Ferrari

January 10, 2021

Louis Foster stuns Road America field to snatch first career pole as McLaughlin leads Kiwi qualifying effort

June 22, 2025

Toyota 86 Trophy Series R2 Taupō: Townshend resists the pressure for first win

June 22, 2025

Feeney completes Darwin Triple Crown sweep as Penrite duo Allen and Payne join him on the podium

June 22, 2025

Feeney claims third consecutive Pole in Race 19 Top Ten Shootout in Darwin

June 22, 2025

Toyota 86 Trophy Series R2 Taupō: Giddy storms to Race 1 victory

June 22, 2025

Kiwi charge lights up Darwin as Ryan Wood rockets to P1 in Supercars Qualifying – Top 10 Shootout up next

June 22, 2025

Supercars Darwin Race 18: Three Kiwis finish in Top 10

June 22, 2025

Matt Payne finishes on podium in chaotic opening Supercars race in Darwin – Wood & Evans DNF

June 21, 2025

Zeltwanger in rivals’ sights for Taupo

June 20, 2025
#19 Jacob Douglas,  Pabst Racing, DouglasFay Group, Fleet Cost & Care

Jacob Douglas targets big results at Road America after dominant test pace

June 20, 2025

Jacob Begg takes rookie title in NZ Formula Ford Championship

June 19, 2025
Monday, June 23, 2025
VelocityNews
Subscribe
  • International
    • Formula 1
    • Formula 2
    • Formula 3
    • Formula E
    • Esports
    • Super GT
    • Super Formula
    • TCR
    • WEC
    • GT
    • Porsche Carrera Cup
    • BTCC
    • DTM
    • IMSA
    • IndyCar
    • Road to Indy
    • NASCAR
    • WRC
    • MotoGP
    • Motorcycle Racing
    • Historic Racing
  • New Zealand
    • Toyota Formula Regional
    • Toyota GR86 Championship
    • Rally
    • Speedway
    • Drifting
    • Formula Ford
    • Formula First
    • TCR NZ
    • TransTasman V8 Series
    • V8 Utes
    • GT New Zealand Championship
    • GTRNZ
    • Central Muscle Cars
    • Pirelli Porsche
    • Mazda Racing Series
    • NZ Endurance Championship
    • NIERDC
    • SIERDC
    • Pro8 South Island Series
    • SsangYong Utes
    • Kartsport
    • NZ Historic Racing
    • NZ General
  • Australia
    • Supercars
    • Super2
    • Australian V8 Touring Car Series
    • Porsche Carrera Cup Australia
    • Porsche Sprint Challenge
    • S5000
    • Australian GT
    • TCR AU
  • Features
    • Features
    • Opinion
    • Profile
    • Race Cars
  • Circuit News
  • Velocity TV
  • Performance Cars
  • Jobs
    • Jobs
    • Post a Job
    • Job Dashboard
No Result
View All Result
VelocityNews
No Result
View All Result

Button reveals how close he came to joining Ferrari

by Zane Shackleton
January 10, 2021
in Formula 1, International, News
0

Jenson Button has revealed how close he came to making a switch to Ferrari in 2013, which progressed as far as contracts being drafted up.

Button had joined McLaren in 2010 on a two-year deal, and had enjoyed some level of success with the squad.

However, there was growing speculation that the 2009 world champion was pushing for a move to Ferrari for the 2013 season.

Nothing eventuated and Button remained with McLaren for another year. Though he was then talked about as a likely candidate to replace Felipe Massa for 2014.

All had been nothing more than a rumour, until now when Button revealed in an interview with Motorsport News that the possibility of a Ferrari drive had moved as far as contracts being drawn up.

“Every driver would love to race for Ferrari at some point,” Button said.

“There’s just something about that team, even this year [2020] it’s tough for them and tough for motorsport fans to see them where they are, but maybe they needed this to come back stronger.

“But I would love to have raced for Ferrari, and there was a good possibility sort of eight years ago, but it just didn’t materialise at the end.

“Pretty much contracts were ready to go and it almost happened, but for many different reasons it did and, to be fair, I was probably better off where I was any way at McLaren.”

Button went on to race with McLaren for seven seasons, making 136 Grand Prix starts. He had also agreed to a long-term deal with the team for beyond 2013, which ties in with the time he opted to pull out of his talks with Ferrari.

However, after 2012, McLaren begun its winless streak, which extends as far as today.

Perhaps a glorious move it would have been for Button with Ferrari returning to their winning ways in 2015. Its new driver Sebastian Vettel then took the fight for the title to Mercedes in both 2017 and 2018.

A move to Ferrari would have also triggered some interesting action on the driver market, with McLaren faced with having to also replace Lewis Hamilton for the 2013 season.

Button isn’t the only big-name driver to have been in discussion with Ferrari during the early 2010s.

Robert Kubica said in 2018 that he had inked a deal with Ferrari for 2012 before his crash in the 2011 Ronde di Andora rally that kept him out of F1 for eight seasons.

Moreover, Nico Rosberg and Mark Webber were linked to a move to the Scuderia for 2013, but both opted to stay with their respective teams.

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
  • About
  • Advertise
  • Privacy & Policy
  • Contact Us

© 2022 VelocityNews - Independent New Zealand and International Motorsport news.

No Result
View All Result
  • International
    • Formula 1
    • Formula 2
    • Formula 3
    • Formula E
    • Esports
    • Super GT
    • Super Formula
    • TCR
    • WEC
    • GT
    • Porsche Carrera Cup
    • BTCC
    • DTM
    • IMSA
    • IndyCar
    • Road to Indy
    • NASCAR
    • WRC
    • MotoGP
    • Motorcycle Racing
    • Historic Racing
  • New Zealand
    • Toyota Formula Regional
    • Toyota GR86 Championship
    • Rally
    • Speedway
    • Drifting
    • Formula Ford
    • Formula First
    • TCR NZ
    • TransTasman V8 Series
    • V8 Utes
    • GT New Zealand Championship
    • GTRNZ
    • Central Muscle Cars
    • Pirelli Porsche
    • Mazda Racing Series
    • NZ Endurance Championship
    • NIERDC
    • SIERDC
    • Pro8 South Island Series
    • SsangYong Utes
    • Kartsport
    • NZ Historic Racing
    • NZ General
  • Australia
    • Supercars
    • Super2
    • Australian V8 Touring Car Series
    • Porsche Carrera Cup Australia
    • Porsche Sprint Challenge
    • S5000
    • Australian GT
    • TCR AU
  • Features
    • Features
    • Opinion
    • Profile
    • Race Cars
  • Circuit News
  • Velocity TV
  • Performance Cars
  • Jobs
    • Jobs
    • Post a Job
    • Job Dashboard

© 2022 VelocityNews - Independent New Zealand and International Motorsport news.