Jenson Button to quit Formula One at end of season – but admits he could return in 2018

JENSON BUTTON will quit Formula One at the end of the season — but has not ruled out a  dramatic comeback in 2018.

The 2009 world champion will step aside for Belgian  Stoffel Vandoorne after agreeing a two-year deal with McLaren to become their  ambassador.

Button, 36, says he has grown tired of the sport — and turned down multiple offers to race  next term because he needs a break.

However, the Brit admitted he could yet return to the track — possibly as a back-up driver for his  Woking-based team — when Fernando Alonso’s  contract expires.

Button said: “I have a two-year  contract starting next year with McLaren-Honda — and next year I will be an ambassador for the team.

“I will also be doing a lot of stuff that I haven’t done for 17 years. I will be living on my schedule, spending more time with my friends and   family, who I have not seen  properly in 17 years.

“This is a change that is necessary in my life at the moment.

“I flew to Spa but no one knew my feelings. It was all going through my mind. Then I spoke to (McLaren boss) Ron  Dennis on Saturday and told him my thoughts.

“We sat down and started discussing possibilities for the future. He said I was still young, fit and hungry — but he knew I needed a break.

“I need to experience living as an adult without F 1 in my life.”

And Button admitted he is still struggling to come to terms with the death of his father John in 2014.

He added: “There are many things I need to go through in my head over the next year — including the old boy.

“In F 1, you don’t have time to rest or look back at things that have affected you emotionally.”

Button will now be inundated with offers and could even race for Honda in another series.

And fellow Brit LEWIS HAMILTON showed why he is the master of Monza yesterday.

The drivers’ championship leader took pole for today’s Italian Grand Prix   with a lap time  almost HALF A SECOND quicker than closest rival and Mercedes team-mate Nico Rosberg.

Hamilton’s fifth  Monza pole equals  F 1 greats Ayrton Senna and Juan Manuel Fangio.

And Hamilton, 31,  said: “I feel incredibly proud and honoured to be up with Senna and Juan Manuel. I never in a  million years thought that my name would be  mentioned in the same sentence as theirs.”