Button looks set to retire from Formula 1 at the end of this season, despite McLaren indicating that they would like the Briton to remain with the team.
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“Jenson is a fantastic guy, a world champion and a big part of our family at Honda and McLaren for six seasons”, said Neale.
McLaren’s option on Button’s services for 2016 is believed to expire at the end of the month with the clause reputedly guaranteeing the Englishman a substantial pay rise after he took in a cut in wages a year ago to secure his retention ahead of Kevin Magnussen.
But Neale conceded McLaren has to “respect” a driver’s decision if he doesn’t want to stay.
Button spoke on Thursday about how the “joy” of competing was missing.
The 35-year-old recently considered that he would not ever hurry for one more crew, symbolizing that in case a fresh commitment is not just arranged, the person will escape from Formula a singular.
“The joy of being in the auto is only there if you’re fighting at the front, because you feel like you’re achieving something”. That is not what gives me joy and that is not what excites me. I don’t like finishing 14th or 10th.
The new Top Gear presenter Chris Evans appeared to be flirting with a tie-up with Button when he added: “He hasn’t signed on the dotted line, or as far I’m aware told his current bosses”.
With his Woking-based team having performed much worse than Alonso expected, there has been speculation over the Japanese GP weekend that the Spaniard wants to race elsewhere.
Button’s team-mate Fernando Alonso reached Q2 and was up to 11th going into the session’s closing seconds, before being pushed back to 14th.
There are those who say he only won the world championship because he was in the best vehicle in that Brawn in 2009, but the same could be said of Lewis Hamilton, Nigel Mansell, Damon Hill, Alain Prost and Ayrton Senna.
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“I am happy with working with the philosophy and discipline that I found this year, working with one of the greatest teams and greatest engineers I work with in my career. Hopefully we can make this tough time as short as possible”.
