For a while on Friday it was like being transported back in time. Seven years back in time to be precise. To 2010 when Typhoon Phanfone wreaked merry havoc at the Japanese Grand Prix; torrential rain hammering down over Suzuka, preventing the cars from leaving their pits; engineers idling away their time – and trying to entertain the fans – by making origami boats to sail down the pit-lane; and Jenson Button holding court to a room full of journalists.

The 2009 world champion was back in a Formula One paddock on Friday for the first time since July, when he did a bit of media work around the British Grand Prix. And it was Button’s admission that he “fell out of love with motorsport” during his last couple of seasons with McLaren that grabbed the headlines on a soggy day in Japan when, to be honest, not much else happened.

Button retired from the sport at the end of last season, his 17th in the sport. And while the 37 year-old remains contracted to McLaren-Honda until the end of this year – indeed, he is out here as part of that deal – he was candid about the fact that he left it too long in the end, worn down by increasingly uncompetitive machines.