Jenson Button names current F1 star who didn’t think Formula 1 would be ‘this difficult’

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Racing in Formula 1 means pitting yourself against the greatest drivers of your generation and while reaching the grid is a huge achievement, staying there is an even more impressive feat.

Jenson Button knows all too well how hard that can be after a difficult first couple of seasons with Williams and Benetton.

Button didn’t always see eye to eye with Flavio Briatore but he managed to spend 17 consecutive seasons on the grid.

He won a world championship with Brawn along the way and is still highly regarded at his old teams even if he didn’t always have the fastest car.

Now racing in the World Endurance Championship, Button spoke on the Missed Apex Podcast about his time in F1.

Button has explained why he decided to retire from Formula 1 even though he’s demonstrated he wasn’t done with racing.

F1 can destroy some extremely talented drivers and success throughout a junior career doesn’t guarantee wins and championships at this level.

Nico Hulkenberg was Germany’s brightest talent as a youngster and while he’s spent a long time in the sport, he’s still yet to secure that first podium.

Button has now shared that Kevin Magnussen – who made his debut with McLaren in 2014 – couldn’t quite believe the level of the sport when he first arrived.

READ MORE: Haas driver Kevin Magnussen’s life outside F1 from wife and daughters to net worth

He had a magnificent debut, finishing 2^nd ahead of Button on the podium in Australia, but sunk to 11^th in the Drivers’ Championship by the end of the year and to this day that’s still his only top-three finish in F1.

Jenson Button says Kevin Magnussen couldn’t believe how difficult Formula 1 was

Asked about how it feels winning in junior formulas before getting to F1 and racing against the very best, Button said: “It’s tough and I think a lot of drivers, their career ends very quickly, very abruptly when they get into Formula 1 or IndyCar because they’re going up against the best of the best.

“Every person on the F1 grid was that person in the junior formula winning every race. So, it’s difficult.

“I remember when Kevin Magnussen joined McLaren back in 2014, he did really well in the first race and then it sort of tailed off.

READ MORE: Everything you need to know about Haas F1 Team from team principal to Ferrari relationship

“And then I spoke to him sort of three races in. He’s like, I didn’t think it was going to be this difficult.

“He said I thought I’d come in and win everything. It doesn’t quite happen, it doesn’t quite work like that.”

Kevin Magnussen is set to leave Formula 1 for the third time after the 2024 season

Magnussen won’t be racing in Baku at the weekend after being the first driver to be banned since Romain Grosjean in 2012.

Oliver Bearman will race in his place but Magnussen’s seat is safe until the end of the season.

However, Haas have already confirmed Bearman and Esteban Ocon will be the team’s driver line-up in 2025.

It means Magnussen is entering the final stint of his F1 career, although he previously dropped off the grid after his debut season in 2014 and again in 2020 after a one-point campaign with Haas.

Magnussen seems ready to step away from Formula 1 at this stage but would love to replicate his fantastic performance in Monza – aside from his collision with Pierre Gasly – at least one more time before the season finale in Abu Dhabi.