F1 News

Best F1 drivers of all time according to Button? 'Getting off from another planet'

Best F1 drivers of all time according to Button? 'Getting off from another planet'

31-03-2020 11:28
4 Comments

GPblog.com

In a top five list of the best Formula 1 drivers the same names usually appear: Ayrton Senna, Alain Prost, Juan Manuel Fangio and Michael Schumacher are for example regular customers in most lists, but Jenson Button takes a different approach.

Sky Sports organised a so-called 'vodcast', in which Martin Brundle and Karun Chandhok joined to talk about the greats of F1. Brundle and Chandhok do choose the famous names of yesteryear in their list, but the other guest, Button, tackles it very differently than his colleagues.

Verstappen belongs to the top

''I'll give you six drivers and I'll make a top six of drivers I've ridden against. I can't compare Fangio to Hamilton. There's so much time in between, it's almost another sport,'' says Button, who is already able to remove a lot of names from his list. The Briton himself was active in F1 between 2000 and 2017 (one race to replace Fernando Alonso in 2017).

Of the six drivers, Button first chooses five world champions: Lewis Hamilton, Fernando Alonso, Sebastian Vettel, Mika Hakkinen and Michael Schumacher. In between, however, Button mentions a striking sixth driver in this list: Max Verstappen. Button does explain why he places the Dutchman in this list.

''I have to mention Verstappen, because when you see what he can do in treacherous circumstances like Brazil 2016, it's just from another planet. Many people think he's wild, but he has more control than anyone else. I even think sometimes he's lost him and many others have already scratched him six times, but he keeps him out of the wall'', Button praises.

Vettel can strike back

Another striking name in the list is Vettel. Although the German won four world titles with Red Bull Racing, he is often skipped in these lists because he won those titles in a supreme car and has not been able to perform at Ferrari since then. Button thinks otherwise.

''Sebastian managed to win four world titles in a row and that's really special. He now has a strong teammate, but I'm sure he can hit back in 2020. He has so much talent that we will definitely see that again when we race this year'', Button concludes with the biggest question of the moment.