Jenson Button and wife Jessica Michibata’s separation was completely “amicable”, a spokesperson for the racing driver said.
The ex-Formula One world champion and underwear model Jessica wed last December after five years of dating, but the pressures of their jobs, keeping them in different parts of the world, has taken its toll.
“Jenson and Jessica have decided to go their separate ways and it is very amicable. There is no-one else involved,” the 35-year-old star’s representative said on Tuesday.
Now attention turns to Jenson’s estimated £35m fortune as it is reported there was no prenuptial agreement set in place.
“Jenson and Jessica did not have any financial arrangement before their marriage,” a source close to the pair told The Sun. “There are ongoing discussions between them about money, but it’s too early to say how it will pan out.”
And he admitted that his hectic schedule meant he wasn’t able to give Jessica dates when they could meet up.
He added:
“I’m travelling so much with racing that I can’t say: ‘I’m going to have a weekend off Formula 1 and come to Japan to see you,’ It just doesn’t happen like that with sport.”
“She’ll come to half the races but when I’m at a race, I’m not the same person as when I am not at a race,” he admitted.
“I have to be selfish. I have to be focused. I am a very different person, and Jessie knows that, and she understands that, as do most of my friends and family. I can be a bit snappy over a race weekend”.
“I just need my apartment to be simple, easy, so I can come in, do my thing, and leave again, pack and repack and leave. It’s been my life for 16 years now – you get used to travelling the circus.”