Wants a competitive F1 seat.
But otherwise goes to Porsche in the WEC, who are relatively uncompetitive themselves...
If he can't get a seat at McLaren or Ferrari, I wouldn't be surprised to see him jump ship. What else would open up for him on a grid with Hamilton, Alonso, Riccardio, Bottas, Rosberg and Vettel? It would be a very long shot. One or two on that list are arguably around the same level as Button but they have youth on their side. Maybe that's not fair but it's the way F1 has been going.
Ferrari's problems are well known too of course, but if he's out of McLaren, it's the best seat available along with that mystique of driving for Ferrari. I know some rail against that as being overblown and snobbish but a lot of drivers are drawn to the Prancing Horse, perhaps Button is one of them. I'm assuming that Williams is a no go, would be nice to see him finish his career out there and go full circle but I wonder how readily they would take him back after the contract dispute and possible complications of Massa's contract that we're not privy to.
Disclaimer: I haven't followed WEC very closely, but I would contend that Porsche, with their history of success and resources in sportscar racing, would be a better bet for Button in the long term than staying in F1 and waiting for a competitive seat to come along if McLaren or Ferrari say "no thanks." I know that historically it is very difficult for a team, even one with the success and resources of Porsche to come in and be fighting at the front day in day out the first year.
We are three quarters of the way through the season now, enough time for McLaren to choose between him and Magnussen. Even if they tell him "You'll be on your way if Alonso comes. It's not a done deal yet but we understand it's getting late in the year and you need to make plans for 2015 just in case," that would be the decent thing. I'm not surprised he's looking elsewhere.
Another thing is that although Button has driven in an era where fitness has been very important, the last couple of years have been particularly restrictive for the drivers on their diet. Webber of course is not piling on the pounds but spoke of how nice it is not to have to live on rabbit food the year round. Plus at least in WEC, double points is for a race that is 4 times as long.
Edited by hittheapex, 18 October 2014 - 01:18.