Jenson Button says he was surprised to see Fernando Alonso take up the challenge of racing in the Indy 500 and would rather race in NASCAR himself.

The 2009 world champion returns to race for McLaren in this weekend’s Monaco Grand Prix as a replacement for Alonso, who has qualified fifth for his maiden Indy 500 attempt. Facing the media on Wednesday in Monte Carlo, Button was asked about his thoughts on Alonso’s switch and whether he would follow suit, but highlighted other categories as future options to race in.

“Indy’s not really been something that I’ve ever thought about,” Button said. “Personally I was surprised that Fernando was interested in doing it, but we all like different things. We’re racing drivers, we’re not just F1 drivers, and we like trying different sports.

“For me, I would like to do Le Mans one day. I think it would be a great experience, a great team atmosphere. Obviously it has to be the right opportunity like Nico [Hulkenberg] had. I would like to race in NASCAR – I think that would be fun. I went along to one of the races this year; Jimmie Johnson invited me and I had a great time. I loved seeing the show as it is, and it’s very different to other motorsport. Equally, it’s a challenge, it’s a massive challenge. Who knows?

“And then there’s other motorsports that I love, like rallycross as well. So there are many things. But Indy hasn’t been up there for me for many different reasons.”

With the Indy 500 starting a few hours after the Monaco Grand Prix ends, Button says he will tune in to see how Alonso gets on and is interested in hearing his former teammate’s reaction.

“Yeah, I’m sure that I will. I watched when he drove the car for the first time, which is always interesting seeing a driver’s reaction. Actually it was probably more the reaction to the media being right next to him every second that he was out of the car – that was the bit I loved watching the most, because we all know how Fernando loves the media. Seeing the reaction to that was even better than his reaction to driving the car around the circuit.

“It’s absolutely mad, isn’t it, Indy, in terms of the media and how much attention it’s getting, which is fantastic for the sport. I just want to see what Fernando says when he gets back. Of course I have an interest. I’ve been teammates with Fernando for a couple of years and raced against Fernando for many more years than that. It will be interesting to see how he does.

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“[Indy is] A very different type of motorsport. There’s a lot of talent out there, and drivers that have been doing that for many years. It will be interesting to see how he gets on. Qualifying went pretty well, but the race is something very, very different. Wheel-to-wheel around there, it’s pretty mad. I wish him the best and I think the most important thing is that he stays safe, which we’ve already talked about.”