{"id":126666,"date":"2025-05-24T00:52:08","date_gmt":"2025-05-24T00:52:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/126666\/"},"modified":"2025-05-24T00:52:08","modified_gmt":"2025-05-24T00:52:08","slug":"why-jenson-button-turned-down-indy-500-drive","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/126666\/","title":{"rendered":"Why Jenson Button ‘turned down’ Indy 500 drive"},"content":{"rendered":"

Jenson Button revealed that he had the opportunity to compete at the 2025 Indy 500, and said thanks but no thanks.<\/strong><\/p>\n

The 2009 Formula 1 World Champion explained that at his age, and after the racing career he has had, the fast-paced, high-adrenaline spectacle that is the Indy 500 is not something which he has on his bucket list, explaining how even as a spectator, it \u201cscares\u201d him to watch.<\/p>\n

Jenson Button has no interest in an Indy 500 appearance<\/p>\n

Motorsport fans will be in their element this weekend as two of the most prestigious events anywhere in the sporting world take place on the same weekend, those being the Monaco Grand Prix and the Indianapolis 500.<\/p>\n

The 109th running of the Indy 500 plays out on Sunday May 25, with former Ferrari F1 reserve Robert Shwartzman on pole.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, Button \u2013 who made 306 grand prix starts in Formula 1, and\u00a0won his sole World Championship in 2009 as part of the iconic Brawn GP fairytale title double \u2013 is in Monaco on Sky F1<\/strong> duties, that the scene of his final F1 race in 2017.<\/p>\n

Since then, Button has been highly active across the sportscar and endurance racing scenes, three times entering the 24 Hours of Le Mans, but the final event that forms the \u2018Triple Crown of Motorsport\u2019 alongside Monaco and Le Mans \u2013 the Indy 500 \u2013 does not appeal.<\/p>\n

Button would reveal in Monaco that he received an offer to compete at the Indy 500, but said no.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis year I was asked to race in it, and I turned it down,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m 45 years old. I\u2019ve had a career I\u2019m happy with that I don\u2019t want to go and do that now.\u201d<\/p>\n

At that point, Sky F1 co-commentator Karun Chandhok pointed out to Button that his former Honda team-mate, Takuma Sato, has qualified on the front row for the 2025 Indy 500 at the age of 48, Sato a two-time winner of the event.<\/p>\n

2025 Indy 500: All the details you need<\/p>\n

\ud83d\udc49 Indy 500 2025 starting grid: Your complete guide with Shwartzman on pole<\/a><\/p>\n

\ud83d\udc49 Indy 500 2025: When is it and how can I watch on TV and live stream?<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cIsn\u2019t it amazing that you sit there watching one car going round and round an oval track and you\u2019re just absorbed,\u201d Chandhok reflected on Indy 500 qualifying.<\/p>\n

\u201cI couldn\u2019t turn away from it for the entire whatever, two hours it went on for.\u201d<\/p>\n

Button was also gripped, but it is not a comfortable watch for the 15-time grand prix winner, with the speeds and danger high around the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.<\/p>\n

\u201cI still watch it through my fingers as well,\u201d he said in response to Chandhok, \u201cbecause it scares me how easy it is to end up in the wall.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd it\u2019s always a big shunt at 230mph.\u201d<\/p>\n

Read next: McLaren go big with Monaco upgrades as title favourites prepare for the future<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Jenson Button revealed that he had the opportunity to compete at the 2025 Indy 500, and said thanks…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":63972,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4103],"tags":[4199,707,4200,225,32332,12,79,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-126666","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-f1","8":"tag-f1","9":"tag-formula-1","10":"tag-formula1","11":"tag-home-page","12":"tag-jenson-button","13":"tag-news","14":"tag-sports","15":"tag-uk","16":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/114560076484154924","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/126666","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=126666"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/126666\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/63972"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=126666"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=126666"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=126666"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}