Former Formula 1 world champion Jenson Button reckons he knows what it is about Red Bull driver Max Verstappen that makes him such a uniquely fearsome competitor in the sport.
The current championship leader has been attacked by his Mercedes rivals in recent weeks, with Lewis Hamilton suggesting that Verstappen hasn't had to face the same calibre of team mates over the years that he himself has.
And Mercedes team boss Toto Wolff has said that Verstappen is fortunate to have a car designed to his strengths, and added that the Dutch driver's ten-in-a-row record is of interest only to people reading Wikipedia.
While Button agreed with both Hamilton and Wolff to an extent, he said that he would be more fearful going up against Verstappen if he were still competing in F1 today.
"Lewis has had some very tough team-mates," Button told Sky Sports at the Goodwood Revival. "He's had world champions as team-mates, whereas Max hasn't.
"I think Lewis has had more difficult team-mates, but I also wouldn't want to go up against Max," he added. “It's a difficult one.
“For me, I would be more fearful going up against Max in the same car," he continued. "And I think it is because the car is designed around his style, or he can drive a car that Adrian Newey gives him.
“I think Adrian gives him a car and says, ‘This is the quickest car in the world'," Button explained. If you take away front downforce, it's going to go slower, but it'll be easier to drive.’
"Max is like: ‘Right, I have to drive how you've made this car, and I need to drive it as quick as I can," Button noted. "I think that he's very good at that and a lot of drivers struggle to compete with that."
Button lamented the fact that Verstappen was currently so far ahead of the rest of the field, especially given that the quality of the driver line-up in F1 was such high-quality.
“They're all unbelievable drivers, the best in the world, and some of the best we've ever seen in F1," he said, singling out Verstappen, Hamilton and Fernando Alonso as the best of the best at the moment.
"Those three for me are the ones that stand out," he said. "I wish there was more competition at the front, between Max, Lewis, Fernando."
Button was also asked about rumours that Lando Norris could leave McLaren and become Verstappen's team mate at Red Bull Racing in future, when Sergio Perez' current contract with the team expires.
"It's not an easy decision for him," Button said of Norris' predicament. "He's not in a car that can win right now and it probably won't next year either, I don't think.
“He's got to be looking elsewhere for 2025," he said. "Or else he puts his trust in McLaren: they've won races, they've won championships, and it can come back around.
"Aa long as he can see the future and think that they're in a good place as a team, and it gives him confidence, stay there. If not, go and fight Max Verstappen in his own team.
"But that's a hard one," he acknowledged. "If he's clever he will decide on a car that suits his style - and I think we've seen from a lot of drivers, the Red Bull doesn't suit many drivers apart from Max."
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