Fast forward to 2026 and Jenson is once again reconnecting with Honda, this time as Driver Ambassador for Aston Martin Aramco Formula 1 Team, whose F1 entry this year is powered by Honda’s RA626H.

Now feels like the perfect time to look back at some of Jenson’s Honda highlights…

 

2004: First F1 Podium

Driving for BAR-Honda, Jenson claimed his first Formula 1 podium finish at the 2004 Malaysian Grand Prix. Starting sixth on the grid, ‘JB’ made progress early in the race, despite contact on the opening lap with Jarno Trulli, and maintained a consistent and quick pace to hold onto third at the chequered flag. This marked the first of 50 podiums that he would achieve during his F1 career.

2006: First F1 Win

One iconic image. One iconic debut victory. The 2006 Hungarian Grand Prix provided unpredictable weather, but Jenson was the driver to master those conditions. The odds were against him, as a 10-place grid penalty dropped him to 14th on the grid, but his ability to read the evolving track saw him make his way through the field and claim the lead on lap 52 – providing Honda with their first victory as a constructor since 1967.

2018: Civic Type R Lap Record (Hungaroring)

As part of the Type R Challenge, where Honda attempted to set five front wheel drive production car lap records across Europe in 2018, Jenson tackled the Hungaroring in the Civic Type R. Featuring 180-degree corners and a complex chicane, the narrow and twisty track is one of the most technical in Europe, but Jenson mastered it in 2min 10.19secs – claiming the lap record.

2018: SuperGT Champion

After making his SuperGT debut in a one-off appearance at Suzuka in 2017, driving the #16 MOTUL MUGEN NSX-GT for Team Mugen, Jenson joined Naoki Yamamoto at Team Kunimitsu (the team founded by Kunimitsu Takahashi – the first Japanese rider to win a motorcycle Grand Prix, while riding for Honda) for a full season campaign. It proved to be highly successful with victory at Suzuka and podium finishes throughout the season culminating in a championship title, with Button the first rookie to win the GT500 title since 2005.

2019: Blancpain GT Entry

In 2019 Jenson partnered with RJN Motorsport to enter a solo car team in the silver cup category of the five-race endurance segment of the Blancpain GT Series. Running under the Jenson Team Rocket RJN banner, bringing back the Rocket Motorsport name that Jenson competed under when karting, the team’s Honda NSX GT3 Evo was primarily driven by Struan Moore, Philipp Frommenwiler, and Matt McMurray – while Ricardo Sanchez replaced McMurray for the Spa 24 Hours.

2019: DTM Debut

As part of the SuperGT/DTM crossover in 2019, Jenson drove his Team Kunimitsu Honda NSX-GT3 in the season finale at Hockenheim. In qualifying, he proved to be the fastest of the SuperGT guest entries in the wet and changing conditions and was sixth overall – especially impressive as his car was not equipped with the same DRS and push-to-pass systems that the DTM cars utilised. A slow pitstop cost him valuable time in the race, but he was once again the highest placed of the SuperGT entries and ended the race in ninth place.

2019: Civic Type R Lap Record (Bathurst)

Taking the Type R Challenge from Europe to Australia, Jenson drove a completely standard, factory-spec Civic Type R on road tyres, with no modifications, around the iconic Mount Panorama race circuit at Bathurst. This circuit provided the Type R with a number of challenges – 174-metre vertical difference between its lowest and highest points and gradients of more than 16 per cent to name a couple – but Jenson’s 2min 35.207sec lap was once again good enough to claim another production car lap record.

2024: Rolex 24 Podium

Taking part in one of the world’s most famous 24-hour races, Jenson joined Jordan Taylor, Colton Herta and Louis Delétraz at Wayne Taylor Racing with Andretti, competing with the Acura ARX-06 in the GTP prototype category. This was Button’s first ever Rolex 24 at Daytona and a well-executed strategy among the team and the four drivers resulted in a podium finish on his debut, taking the chequered flag in third.