News

Jenson Button ‘Thrilled’ To Replace Fernando Alonso For McLaren At Monaco Grand Prix

ABU DHABI, UNITED ARAB EMIRATES - NOVEMBER 27: Jenson Button of Great Britain driving the (22) McLaren Honda Formula 1 Team McLaren MP4-31 Honda RA616H Hybrid turbo leads Daniil Kvyat of Russia driving the (26) Scuderia Toro Rosso STR11 Ferrari 060/5 turbo during the Abu Dhabi Formula One Grand Prix at Yas Marina Circuit on November 27, 2016 in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. (Photo by Lars Baron/Getty Images)

Jenson Button is making his return to Formula One after a five-month absence.

Jenson Button to Replace Fernando Alonso for Monaco GP

The 37-year-old British driver will replace Spaniard Fernando Alonso on the McLaren team at the Monaco Grand Prix on May 28.

“I’m thrilled to be making a one-off return to Formula 1 racing, and I couldn’t think of a better place to make that return than my adopted home Grand Prix: Monaco,” Button said in a statement on the McLaren website. “I’ve won the race before, in 2009, and it’s one of my all-time favorite racetracks.

“It’s a tricky street circuit on which a good driver can really make a difference — and, although the McLaren-Honda MCL32 hasn’t begun the season well, I think it may be more suited to Monaco than to the faster circuits.”

Button has been working as a technical adviser for McLaren and was tapped as one of the frontrunners to replace Alonso, who announced earlier this week that he is forgoing the Monaco race to compete in the Indianapolis 500 instead that same weekend.

The Brit’s lone title at the Principality came the same year he secured the world championship with the Brawn GP team.

Button has competed in 305 races, and is one of just three drivers in F1 history to earn more than 300 grand prix starts, 15 of which he has won.

Last fall, Button signed a contract with McLaren that committed him to replacing any driver unable to compete in a grand prix this year. That deal also includes an option to sign Button to race in 2018.

McLaren racing director Eric Boullier considers Button to be prepared to deal with the challenges of racing in Monaco.

“Jenson spent 17 years in F1,” said Boullier. “He drove these levels of downforce before and, having gone through the differences in technicalities of driving this year’s car and last year’s car, we agreed that it would be better to spend a couple of days in the simulator than to test in Bahrain on a different circuit in completely different conditions from Monaco.

“He is fit and ready.”

Subscribe to our free weekly newsletter!

A week of sports news in your in-box.
We find the sports news you need to know, so you don't have to.

Alonso last competed in the Grand Prix of China in Shanghai on Saturday, a race he retired from after he struggled to keep his McLaren in contention.

ABU DHABI, UNITED ARAB EMIRATES – NOVEMBER 27: Jenson Button of Great Britain driving the (22) McLaren Honda Formula 1 Team McLaren MP4-31 Honda RA616H Hybrid turbo leads Daniil Kvyat of Russia driving the (26) Scuderia Toro Rosso STR11 Ferrari 060/5 turbo during the Abu Dhabi Formula One Grand Prix at Yas Marina Circuit on November 27, 2016 in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. (Photo by Lars Baron/Getty Images)

Pablo Mena

Writer and assistant editor for usports.org. NY Giants and Rangers fan. Film and TV enthusiast (especially Harry Potter and The Office) and lover of foreign languages and cultures.