Jenson Button tells Fernando Alonso he’ll ‘pee in his seat’ while filling in for Monaco Grand Prix

Sunday is one of the biggest days in all of motorsports, with the Indianapolis 500 in the IndyCar series and the Monaco Grand Prix in the Formula One series taking place. Fernando Alonso, a McLaren-Honda driver in F1, is skipping the event in Monaco to race in the Indy 500 for the first time.

He’s being replaced in Monaco by Jenson Button, his teammate at McLaren a year ago who retired at the end of the 2016 season. Alonso and Button are two of the most experienced open-wheel drivers alive today, and on Sunday, Alonso wished his former teammate luck over team radio just before the lights went out for the Monaco race.

“Look after my car,” Alonso said, to which Button replied, “OK, I’ll pee in your seat.”

Alonso laughed and begged Button not to joke about such things. This was seconds before the start of the Monaco race, typically the most intense on the F1 calendar due to its narrow road course layout. Button, a professional, had no problems joking at that time.

McLaren has had serious engine reliability issues this year. It entered Monaco as one of only two teams with no points in the Constructors’ Championship. Alonso is the star driver, but with the car frequently letting him down, the team acquiesced to his request to miss the race and go to Indianapolis.

At the time of writing, the Monaco Grand Prix is underway, while the Indy 500 is a few hours away. Alonso qualified in fifth on the grid of 33 drivers in his first ever experience with IndyCar. He may technically be a rookie, but the term is deceptive and many believe he has a shot to win Sunday’s race.

Button qualified well in Alonso’s place for Monaco, positioning himself ninth-fastest in the third qualifying session. Unfortunately, Button was given a 15-place grid penalty for engine changes by the team and started the race from the back of the grid.