Jenson Button endures “one of the toughest races I’ve ever driven”

Jenson Button made his first-ever appearance in the Hypercar class at Le Mans on Sunday, finishing ninth overall.

Ferrari took victory with the #50 car, while Button’s #38 Hertz Jota was the fourth Porsche across the line.

Button and teammates Oliver Rasmussen and Philip Hanson remained on the lead lap and were the last car to do so.

Heavy rain hit the Circuit de la Sarthe on multiple occasions, which brought with it great challenges.

So much so that Button admitted it was one of the toughest races he’s ever been involved in.

Button said: “That was one of the toughest races I’ve ever driven in such conditions! It was truly brutal out there; I was constantly pushing the car to the absolute limit and couldn’t relax for a second.

“Maintaining concentration for such a long time is pretty exhausting. The result isn’t what we were hoping for.

“But we brought both cars home on the lead lap, which is something to be proud of.”

The top Porsche at le Mans was the #6 which finished fourth overall, narrowly missing out on a podium.

For the World Endurance series leaders, fourth was not the result they wanted after starting on pole.

Kevin Estre, who put the #6 Porsche on pole, said: “Fourth place and missing out on the podium by just one second – that’s not the result we were aiming for. 

“We were in it to win and drove a good race with just one mistake in tyre choice in the early stages.

“While we fought our way back up the order, in the end, we couldn’t find the pace we needed to be in contention for overall victory.

“We must keep learning and come back stronger next year.”