Button wants a competitive car or he’s quitting

Jenson Button

Jenson Button, 36, has endured a painful decline in his results over the past few years largely due to McLaren's slump in form. Indeed he last stepped on to the podium when he won the season-ending Brazilian Grand Prix in 2012 – a streak which now stretches to 66 races.

The 2009 world champion is out of contract with McLaren at the end of the campaign, and it is widely expected that he will be replaced by the team's talented reserve driver Stoffel Vandoorne.

Williams, the team with whom Button started his grand prix journey back in 2000, are interested in offering the Briton a Formula One lifeline. But speaking on the eve of what could be his last British Grand Prix, Button said: "If I am racing next year, I will only be racing if I am in a car that is competitive."