London, May 28 (IANS) Formula One driver Jenson Button has broken up with his model girlfriend Jessica Michibata.

Button dated the lingerie model for around 18 months but decided to call time on the relationship just after the Monaco Grand Prix due to problems in maintaining a long distance relationship.

‘Jenson is single again. He and Jessica have gone their separate ways,’ thesun.co.uk quoted his spokesperson as saying.

A friend said: ‘Jenson had a great time with Jessica and it looked like things were moving in the right direction. But the logistics took their toll.’

‘With her living in Tokyo and him all around the world to races it has been very tough. She was constantly flying out to meet him. And whenever there was a race in her part of the world he’d fit a visit to Tokyo into his schedule. But it’s impossible to maintain that in the long term.’

‘Just over a week ago Jenson reluctantly decided that racing must be his main priority. He was forced to make the unpleasant decision to split to focus on his racing. There is no one else involved,’ the friend said.