Jenson Button moving into 'Michael Schumacher territory'

Ross Brawn believes that Jenson Button is driving better with every race as the World Championship leader continues his charge to the drivers' title in Formula One.
After the Briton's crushing victory in the Turkish Grand Prix at Istanbul Park on Sunday - his sixth win in seven races - the team principal of Brawn GP said that there was no advice he could give Button other than: “Carry on as you are.”
“He's driving so well, there's nothing I can add to his performance,” Brawn said. “It was absolutely perfect on Sunday. It was very smooth, very controlled and he is getting better and better. This was the best performance I have seen this year.”
Having spent years working with Michael Schumacher at Benetton and Ferrari, where the seven-times world champion compiled the best record in the modern era of the sport, Brawn is in a better position than anyone in the paddock to distinguish a great driver from one who is merely outstanding. Clearly Button does not have the same steely intensity as Schumacher, nor the German's win-at-all-costs mentality, but Brawn is happy to talk of them in the same class.
“I had a long time, 15 years, working with Michael and this is only my second year with Jenson,” he said. “It's difficult to compare, but what I see in Jenson is the dedication, the commitment, the focus and he is superbly fit. He really enjoys his fitness work and that is similar to Michael.
“There's also the winning mentality. Michael acquired it and Jenson is getting it. What's nice is that Jenson is still keeping the same attitude and the same balanced approach as a person.”
If Button is doing everything right, so is the car that Brawn and his designers have given him. Brawn oversaw the conception and campaigning of the 2004 Ferrari that, in Schumacher's hands, won 12 of the first 13 races and the BGP 001 is not far off it, he believes. “You know when you've got a good car,” Brawn said. “The thing that I'm very encouraged by is that the incremental changes we are making are improving the car.”
While Button basks in success, other drivers farther down the grid were stepping into the budget-capping row with the FIA. Felipe Massa, the Ferrari driver, said that the dispute between the teams and the sport's governing body was a “disaster” for Formula One, adding that if the FIA continues to try to force a spending cap on the sport, the teams will leave and race elsewhere.
Fernando Alonso, of Renault, was equally outspoken. “I [would] prefer to race in any other category before the new Formula One,” he said. “You cannot suddenly move from a budget of €500 million [about £435 million] to one of €45 million a year.”
Source:The times