Button: 'Is Verstappen the best driver in the world? Probably not'

Pure speed of Verstappen

Of course, when two drivers are so matched in a title fight, they are also compared to each other. In an interview YouTube with Nigel Green, Jenson Button is asked if Verstappen is the best driver ever. "That's a tough one. I think in terms of pure speed I would have to say yes," the Brit praises the Dutchman. "Is he the best driver in the world? Probably not at the moment, but on pure speed there is nobody like him."

Green seems to agree with Button and comes up with a nice anecdote. The F1 journalist once drove along the track as a passenger with both David Coulthard and Verstappen. "Max took me around the Abu Dhabi circuit. Nothing against David, but with him I was scared as a passenger. With Max I was relaxed, I slid to the wall laughing. I don't know, I just wasn't as scared."

Relaxed in the car, nervous out of it

Green charts that he found Verstappen very relaxed in the car, but a little nervous outside the car. "I totally agree," Button concurs. "That's true for a lot of drivers. They're unsure if it's not what they're used to. Lewis is the same to be honest. Whether you like Lewis or not, he's an extreme talent. One-on-one he's good, but when there's a group of people, he's pretty quiet."

Button also thinks he knows why it is that many drivers are like this. "I think it's because you put so much into what you do. We come into this sport at such a young age and you live the sport. You live a privileged life as an F1 driver, but everything is just tunnel vision and you don't see the real world until after."