Jenson Button's decision to remain in Formula One is the right one for the sport, Lotus driver Romain Grosjean has claimed.
Button appeared set to call time on his world championship-winning career at the end of the season after growing disillusioned with McLaren's performances.
But the Englishman was convinced to stay with the beleaguered British outfit by the team's chief executive Ron Dennis.
And Grosjean, who earlier this week was unveiled as the lead driver for newly-formed American team Haas, is pleased Button will still be racing next term.
"It is really good news for the grid," said Grosjean of McLaren's decision to retain Button and extend his grand prix career into a 17th season.
Speaking to Press Association Sport, the French driver added: "He is a world champion, a good racer and he is still driving hard.
"We have had some nice wheel-to-wheel battles in the past and I hope we get some more, hopefully at the front of the grid, next year. He is a guy that a lot of the fans love. He is really nice guy, a brilliant racer, and it is good for the sport."
Button has scored only six points this year and crossed the line a miserable 16th in Sunday's Japanese Grand Prix.
But while the 2009 world champion, who will earn a pay hike from the £7million he is earning this term to around £11million in 2016, admitted he considered retiring from the sport, he is confident he made the right decision.
The identity of his team-mate remains a mystery however, with Fernando Alonso saying after last week's race in Japan he was unsure whether he would be in Formula One next year. There was no mention of the double world champion in McLaren's press release on Thursday.
''Over the past month or so I have done quite a lot of thinking, and it is no secret that I was at one point in two minds about my future,'' said Button
''I have been a McLaren driver for six seasons now and in that time I have got to know Ron very well. He and I have had some very good chats these past few weeks and, during those chats, it has become clear to me that Ron is both utterly determined and uniquely equipped to lead our team through its current difficulties to great successes in the future.
''That gives me great confidence and it is for that reason that, together, he and I have decided to continue our partnership and, as soon as I had made that decision, straight away I realised it was the correct one.''
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