Jenson Button is expected to announce his retirement after 16 seasons in Formula One before this weekend’s Japanese Grand Prix in Suzuka.

The 35-year-old, who agreed a new deal with McLaren at the start of the season has been in negotiations over extending his contract with the struggling team, who have managed just 17 points this season, but is reportedly ready to call time on his career.

To date Button, the 2009 world champion, has achieved 15 race victories from his 278 starts, which makes him the third most experienced driver in Formula One history.

Button is expected to choose this weekend to make his announcement due to his fondess for the Japanese Grand Prix and the country – his wife, Jessica, is Japanese and he is popular among the local supporters.

Button has finished in the points in just two of the 13 races this season and retired from Sunday’s Singapore Grand Prix with a gearbox problem. Button and his beleaguered McLaren team – who endured their fourth double retirement of the season in Singapore after Fernando Alonso also suffered a gearbox failure – will now head to Honda’s home race in Japan where a decision on their line-up for 2016 could be revealed.

McLaren have an option on Button for next season, but that clause expires at the end of September. It is reported that talks with the team’s head Ron Dennis over extending his grand prix career into a 17th campaign have stalled.

The reserve driver Kevin Magnussen, who moved sideways after one season following the arrival of Alonso and Stoffel Vandoorne, the runaway GP2 championship leader, are both contenders for Button’s seat. They would both be vastly cheaper options than the Briton, too.