McLaren CEO Jonathan Neale says his team wants Jenson Button to stay for 2016 but admits he can do nothing to keep his driver if he does not want to stay.
Ahead of the Japanese Grand Prix weekend, Button was rumoured to be lining up a retirement announcement, but on Thursday said he was still in talks with McLaren about next year. Neale went on the record on Friday saying the team wants to keep Button if possible.
"I get the sense from the media there was a big anti-climax yesterday and there was a lot of discussion about where Jenson was at," Neale said. "Jenson is a fantastic guy, a world champion and a big part of the family at Honda and McLaren - he's been with us for six seasons - and we're contracted with him, we want him to stay, we like him very much.
"But if your driver doesn't really want to be in the seat we have to respect that. I really hope that we have done enough between us to continue those discussions with him and have the confidence to have him with us, and that's what we'd like."