Jenson Button has had quite a year, winning the Super GT championship at his first attempt and also competing in the WEC, scoring his first podium last time out in Shanghai.
He also did a spot of presenting for Sky Sports F1 at the British GP and has now decided to join the broadcaster’s squad of pundits full-time for 2019.
Delighted to be joining the @skysportsf1 team. F1 is a sport I love, a sport I lived for 17 years and a sport I’m excited to help deliver to the fans. Here’s to being back in the paddock very soon!
— Jenson Button (@JensonButton) November 25, 2018
If everyone from 2018 stays on then Sky F1’s presenting team will include British ex-F1 driver Martin Brundle, British ex-F1 driver Damon Hill, British ex-F1 driver Johnny Herbert, British ex-F1 driver Paul di Resta, British ex-F1 driver Anthony Davidson, and now British ex-F1 driver Jenson Button. Maybe the saying is wrong – maybe variety isn’t the spice of life…
2019 is the first year where Sky has exclusive rights to show live F1 in the United Kingdom, with Channel 4 relegated to showing highlights on free-to-air TV (apart from the British GP, which will be broadcast live). Button’s addition to the team should be a good one – as a relatively recent F1 driver and former teammate of Lewis Hamilton he should be able to offer some interesting insights. He’s also got a bit of cheeky sense of humour – something David Coulthard and Mark Webber used to great effect on C4 this year.
Button will apparently appear as a pundit in some capacity during select race weekends next year as he fits it in and around his Super GT commitments.
Top image (c) FIA WEC
