For the 2019 season, past champion Jenson Button will join the SkySports F1 commentary team, which provides English language commentary for the official F1 TV broadcast.
Button made a cameo with the broadcaster for the 2018 British Grand Prix, just over a year after his final race in the top-level series, which he ran with McLaren at the 2017 Monaco Grand Prix as a substitute for Fernando Alonso. The Spaniard was busy that weekend with an entry in the Indianapolis 500, to which he will return in 2019.
The Brit will split his commentating duties with his ongoing racing career, which resulted in a Super GT Championship win earlier in November.
“I’m incredibly excited to join up with the Sky Sports team again,” Button stated in SkySports‘ announcement. “Working with them at Silverstone this year gave me a taste of television broadcasting, one that I thoroughly enjoyed and look forward to again in 2019.”
SkySports‘ team was, for the 2018 season, comprised of David Croft, veteran pit-lane reporter Ted Kravitz, and former Formula 1 driver Martin Brundle, who claimed multiple podiums and the final points finish for the Brabham team before its dissolution. Brundle was also the 1988 World Sportscar Champion and winner of the 1990 24 Hours of Le Mans, and brings insider experience to the team. He is occasionally supported by former F1 drivers Jolyon Palmer, Paul di Resta, Damon Hill, Johnny Herbert, and Nico Rosberg.
It is unclear whether Button will be a regular feature of the commentary crew when his schedule isn’t occupied by racing, or whether he will provide occasional insight as some of the above drivers do.