Jenson Button has held positive discussions with McLaren, but his Formula One future remains shrouded in mystery.

Button, the 2009 world champion, was reportedly set to bring the curtain down on his glittering Grand Prix at the end of the season with an announcement expected as early as this weekend.

But speaking ahead of Sunday's Japanese Grand Prix, Button gave very little away on his whereabouts for next season.

McLaren have an option on the Briton for next season, but that clause expires at the end of September. Kevin Magnussen and Stoffel Vandoorne, members of McLaren's young driver academy, are waiting in the wings.

"Since the last race there's no more information to give you," said Button.

"You're going to have to wait for a little while I'm sorry to say, but we're in good talks, the team and myself."

Button has scored only six points from 13 races with McLaren's renewed Honda relationship having long since descended into a farce.

Speaking after he retired with a gearbox failure in Singapore, Button said: "The joy you get is competing. It's about fighting at the front.

"It's about the possibility of standing on top of the podium. That's the joy of Formula One."

It appeared to be the biggest hint yet that Button would not extend his career, which has yielded 281 Grands Prix, 15 victories, and one world championship, into a 17th season.

But ahead of this week's Japanese Grand Prix, the 35-year-old, who has been linked with a move to the World Endurance Championship, as former Red Bull racer Mark Webber did in 2014, and a career in television as a new presenter of Top Gear, said: "There are so many possibilities about what can happen next year - so many possibilities - but I have got nothing else for you I am sorry to say.

"I do not think any driver has joy when they are not fighting for victories and that is what we are here to do, the challenge of fighting at the front, and the possibility of fighting at the front.

"I don't like finishing 14th. I don't like finishing 10th. That is not what gives me joy and that is not what excites me.

"But there are so many other things that if they work in your favour, if you see a future, there is the possibility of joy coming back and that is exciting.

"That is a challenge but after the Singapore Grand Prix I was not joyful, no."

Lewis Hamilton, who partnered Button at McLaren for three seasons, believes his former team-mate would be a big loss to Formula One.

Hamilton, who heads into this weekend's race 41 points clear of Mercedes team-mate Nico Rosberg in the championship, said: "He has been a great advert for the sport, a great ambassador for the sport, and for the Brits. He is a true gentleman champion.

"It will be sad to see such a great driver who is still in his element, still on form and still fit leave, but he has been going a long, long time and I would completely understand if he has decided to do something different. Sixteen years, the same four-day weekend, every two weekends is pretty hardcore for me."