Button-to-IMSA talk continues

The Briton, whose full-time F1 career with the McLaren-Honda team came to an end after the 2016 season, has made sporadic outings this year – most notably as Fernando Alonso's stand-in at Monaco in May while the Spaniard raced in the Indy 500 – and again in August in the Japanese Super GT series.

The question for Button is whether he would be available to join his favorite manufacturer in a DPi program.

"Jenson's contract with us expires at the end of the year," McLaren executive director Zak Brown told RACER. "He's expressed an interest in racing full-time with us which we unfortunately can't provide him. As we do with a lot of the McLaren drivers, we have a lot of ongoing marketing relationships, but anything he wants to do in a racecar is his decision, and only his decision."

With McLaren set to switch from Honda to Renault power next year in F1, Button's link to the Japanese brand – in DPi or any other category – would not involve a tie-in with the grand prix team.

"He's long had a relationship with Honda, been with them pre-McLaren, raced with them on his own in Super GT this year," Brown added. "And if he's racing with Roger Penske and Acura – which I have no firsthand knowledge that he is, but believe that he is based on all that I'm hearing and how much it makes sense – it would be great for him."

Button was considered for a seat in January with Michael Shank Racing at IMSA's Rolex 24 at Daytona in a factory Acura NSX GT3, and while that opportunity did not come to pass, the 37-year-old would be a natural choice for one of the few remaining DPi seats available in 2018.

Only Mazda Team Joest and Wayne Taylor Racing are known to have full-time vacancies to fill, but it's believed talks are well advanced with multiple options to drive MTJ's RT24-Ps and WTR's Cadillac DPi-V.R.

It would leave part-time options for IMSA's North American Endurance Cup events, held at Daytona, Sebring, Watkins Glen, and Road Atlanta as the most likely scenario for Button. Considering his long-standing relationship with Honda – one that dates back to 2003 with the BAR F1 team – it wouldn't be hard to imagine a scenario where Button slotted in at Acura Team Penske (pictured above) alongside Juan Pablo Montoya and Dane Cameron, or Helio Castroneves and Ricky Taylor for the NAEC rounds.

Confirmation of some or all of the final pieces in Acura Team Penske's DPi line-up could come before the end of the week.