Surtees’ indelicate comment on Button

The only MotoGP and Formula 1 champion, John Surtees, reportedly had the following to say of Jenson Button:

Sebastian Vettel is an example of a real driver, look at Button - frankly, I wouldn't have confirmed him with the team. If you don't give 100 per cent, even when the car is not good, you have to be sacked - you can't just be good when you have a good car.

I consider this comment to be seriously flawed. Firstly, comparing Button with another driver from another team is not the right way to go about criticizing (or commending, for that matter) his performance. The two operate in completely different scenarios in just about every area and it is simply not right that their results are matched just like that. If Vettel winning the wet Monza has made him the ‘real driver’ in Surtees’ eyes, what does he make of the Button who won the rain-soaked Hungarian GP in 2006? Secondly, I don’t understand how Surtees is so certain that Button is not giving his 100%. From his on-track results? Results are skewed by a number of factors—car performance being the primary one. Only the driver and his engineers know what he’s doing in the car. Nobody else does.

More Information: Surtees On Button

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