Jenson Button is reaching the end of his first full season of the World Endurance Championship in 2024.
The 2009 Formula 1 world champion has been dabbling in sports car racing since retiring from the pinnacle of motorsport in 2016, having picked up 15 wins and 50 podiums in an illustrious that began with Williams back in 2000.
Since his F1 retirement, Button has been seen competing in the likes of Super GT – winning the GT500 class in 2018 alongside Naoki Yamamoto – DTM, the 24 Hours of Le Mans and made three appearances in the NASCAR Cup Series last year with Rick Ware Racing.
The Brit has previously competed in WEC, competing in the LMP1 class in the 2018/19 season with SMP Racing at rounds 2-5 of the championship, achieving a best finish of third in Shanghai.
Button is currently driving for the Porsche customer team JOTA in the No. 38 car alongside Phil Hanson and Oliver Rasmussen, but come 2025, the British team are embarking on a new partnership.
Jenson Button is the favourite to land the final Cadillac JOTA seat for 2025
For next season, JOTA will be taking over the Cadillac Racing programme from Chip Ganassi Racing and will be running two cars under the name Cadillac Hertz Team JOTA.
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CGR have held talks with Hyundai over a potential partnership with their Genesis LMDh programme in the wake of their Cadillac relationship ending. As JOTA are set to take the reigns, their drivers are yet to be confirmed for their two V-Series R machines.
But according to a report from Sportscar365, current Cadillac drivers Earl Bamber and Alex Lynn have already signed with the team and are to retain their seats for next season. Sebastien Bourdais is expected to move over to WEC full-time, having raced with Cadillac at the season opener in Qatar.
The report also notes that Will Stevens and Norman Nato are set to move over with JOTA from Porsche to Cadillac. Nato is set to complete a dual programme having signed with Nissan in Formula E next season, but the Frenchman has reaffirmed his commitment to the WEC for 2025.
He said: “The project with Nissan came late, but it has always been a priority to be in the WEC every year, and this is where I see my future.
“I am not planning to stop in WEC next year just because I am doing Formula E. This year I also did both and it has been working well, so I will definitely be on the grid again in WEC.”
For the final seat at Cadillac, Button is believed to be the favourite to land the seat, with Hanson and Rasmussen set to leave the team at the end of the season. Callum Illot is also set to depart, with the Brit being linked with PREMA in IndyCar for next year.
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How will Jenson Button fair moving from Porsche to Cadillac?
A move over from Porsche to Cadillac will be an exciting opportunity for Button come 2025 as the team hope to put their struggles this season behind them.
Cadillac are currently sixth in the manufacturers’ championship with Bamber and Lynn managing just three points-finishes so far. Laura Wontrop-Klauser put their struggles down to having just one Hypercar this season, so having a second in 2025 will put beneficial for the team.
Button is already familiar with the JOTA outfit. What he is not familiar is the new machinery he will have to pilot as he moves from a Porsche 963 to Cadillac’s V-Series R.
Cadillac has shown promising signs of performance recently, with a fourth place finish at their home race in Austin. The team will hoping to keep that momentum going in Fuji and Bahrain to put them in good stead for 2025 under the JOTA banner.