Alonso surprised by Button's Le Mans entry

Fernando Alonso was surprised to learn of former Formula 1 teammate Jenson Button's decision to enter this year's 24 Hours of Le Mans, believing his move into Super GT has helped to open his eyes to sports car racing.

Alonso will make his FIA World Endurance Championship debut this weekend with Toyota, and will be joined in the LMP1 class by Button from Le Mans onwards, with the Briton signing for SMP Racing.

Button retired from F1 at the end of 2016 before making a one-off return last year at Monaco. Eager for a full-time return to racing, Button signed a deal to race in Super GT through this season before adding WEC duties to his schedule.

"I think it’s good that he tries different things," Alonso said. "I was teammates with him for a few years, and I raced with him for 16 years. He was not willing to try different series outside of Formula 1 before.

"It was a nice surprise when he joined Super GT in Japan, and now it’s even more surprising he wants to do Le Mans now.

"I’m only happy, because I think he’s a great driver, a great talent. To have him in any series is good for everyone.

"I’m sure he will enjoy Le Mans. Probably because he’s enjoying Super GT, it opened his eyes that the prototype was a good thing to do."

Alonso and Button will battle to top honours in the LMP1 class this year, with the privateer SMP Racing team aiming to try and battle with the manufacturer Toyota outfit despite the latter's hybrid advantage.

New rules in the WEC are aiming to allow for close competition in LMP1, but Alonso will reserve judgement on whether or not he will be fighting with Button on-track this year until after the first race this weekend at Spa.

"Obviously we need to see how other teams are. I think here we will have the first balance," Alonso said.

"In the Prologue [test] we saw already how fast they are, so we’ll see how we can do in Le Mans and if we are fighting together."