Jenson Button, a former desert racer who competed in Baja, did rallycross, and even owns an Extreme H team, is hanging up his helmet after this weekend’s 8 Hours of Bahrain. Yup, totally didn’t do any other sort of racing on that unsightly pavement.

“My kids are four and six and you’re away for a week and you miss so much, you don’t get this time back,” Button explained. “I feel like I’ve missed a lot the last couple of years, which has been fine because I knew that would happen, but I’m not willing to do that again for another season.”

Button was a Formula One fan favorite for much of his 18-year career, winning the 2009 championship for Brawn GP and 15 total races with 50 podiums. After his final start in 2017, he began trying out other disciplines.

The off-road world called out to him in 2019, placing him in a Class 6100 truck from Brenthel Industries. Transmission issues, flat tires, and a rollover relegated Button and teammate Mazen Fawaz to a 19th in class at the Mint 400. He eventually tried the Vegas to Reno, also on the Best In The Desert calendar like the Mint at the time, but retired after hitting a rock at RM 86.

The Baja 1000 was next on his itinerary, only for that to end with another DNF because of a broken differential.

While desert racing didn’t quite go to plan, he still had the itch to try something of that sort. In 2021, he joined the newly formed Extreme E as an owner-driver, running the inaugural race in Saudi Arabia and finishing sixth before ceding driving duties to Kevin Hansen. JBXE would eventually become JBX as Extreme E reformed into Extreme H this year.

Button also raced in Nitro Rallycross in 2022, but struggled in his lone start at ERX and never returned. His father John competed in rallycross in the 1970s.

Understandably, his asphalt endeavors even outside of F1 was a bit more successful. He won the 2018 Super GT championship in GT500, scored a top-20 finish in his NASCAR debut in 2023, and also podiumed in his maiden Rolex 24 in 2024.

For 2025, he’s been running the full FIA World Endurance Championship in a Cadillac Hypercar. Button, Sébastien Bourdais, and Earl Bamber sit eighth in points with the season-ending round in Bahrain set to take place on Saturday.

Featured image credit: Brenthel Industries