Jenson Button, former teammate, of Fernando Alonso at McLaren, has said that he thinks the Spaniard has made the ‘right decision’ to leave Formula 1.The 2009 champion believes that Alonso that he has ‘finally woken up and smelt the coffee’ after a difficult last few years at McLaren.Following almost two decades in the sport, Alonso will be finally leaving McLaren at the end of the year to pursue other racing opportunities outside of Formula 1.Alonso, widely regarded as one of the finest drivers of his generation, burst on the scene in the early 2000’s, first driving for Minardi before joining Renault as a test driver and then later winning back-to-back championships in 2005 and 2006.Since then, his career has been a tale of what might have been, finishing as runner-up to Kimi Raikkonen in 2007 and Sebastian Vettel in 2012 and 2013.But Button thinks the Spanish star is leaving at the right time.“I said to him he’s finally made the right decision. He’s woken up and smelled the coffee, as we say,” Button said, as per Planet F1.“It’s always down to the individual when they choose to leave Formula 1. He’s done the same thing as what I chose to do, leave but leave it open for one year after to go back.“I think that’s the right option to do. But if the McLaren’s quick and it’s winning races, he’ll be back in Formula 1.”Due to Alonso's early success and his undeniable talent, he has been outspoken in his frustrations with teammates and management throughout his career.This has meant that he has fallen out of favour at a number of teams, most notably in his first spell at McLaren where his contract was mutually terminated after just one year.Alonso has stated quite openly of his desire to win the Motorsport Triple Crown, the Indy 500, Monaco Grand Prix and the Le Mans 24-hour race.Last year he left the McLaren team with their blessing to compete in the Indy 500. He finished a respectable 24th in the race and was leading the race for 27 laps before he was hindered by engine failure later in the race.He achieved the second part of the Triple Crown this year by winning the Le Mans 24-hour race with Toyota. Button believes that this his racing career will not slow down now that he is deciding to leave Formula 1.He added: “I think next year he’ll still have a busy schedule. You can’t stop a racing driver racing. I thought I could stop, but I can’t.“He’s still going to be racing until he’s 95 years old. He races more than me, he’s at the karting school in Spain all the time, driving, teaching. He’s obviously racing in WEC.”

Alonso has also left the door open to a potential return to the sport in 2020 and Button believes that that is also a wise move.

“It’s always down to the individual when they choose to leave Formula 1. He’s done the same thing as what I chose to do, leave but leave it open for one year after to go back.

“I think that’s the right option to do. But if the McLaren’s quick and its winning races, he’ll be back in Formula 1.”