YAS MARINA, Abu Dhabi -- Jenson Button is concerned he may have made his decision to quit Formula One too early as he approaches his final race on Sunday.
At this year's Italian Grand Prix, Button announced he would not be driving in 2017 after signing a contract with the team to spend a year as an "ambassador". In theory Button's contract allows him to return to racing in 2018 if both team and driver agrees, but the 2009 champion has admitted he is treating Abu Dhabi as his last race.
"I still feel that August was quite early, personally," he said of his decision to stop. "I think when a driver decides he's going to leave the sport or retire from that certain type of sport I think you should try and do it as late as possible. I think I did it way too early.
"The mindset definitely changes, which is a shame. I didn't think it would but it definitely does. But tomorrow for me it is a big day and I don't go into the last race thinking 'I can't wait until it's over', I go into the last race excited, knowing I'm going to have a great race and I will give it my all as I always do in every grand prix."
Button reiterated that he would continue to race in some form, even if it's not F1.
"I'm not retiring, it's a bad word. It's thrown around too often. I'm 36 years old, I'm definitely not retiring. I'll be working here with the team next year, I will be racing other things and in the future. I'm going to be driving until I'm 70-odd years old, so I'm not retiring until then, it's just whether I get paid to do it or not. That's probably the only difference."