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Newly crowned Formula 1 world champion Jenson Button does not even rank in the top three or four drivers, according to Sir Stirling Moss.
Button clinched the 2009 title with a race to spare at Sunday's Brazilian Grand Prix with a stunning drive to fifth place but Moss, generally regarded as the greatest driver of all time not to win the world title, said there were far better drivers in F1.
"For me the fastest three guys in F1 right now are Lewis Hamilton, Fernando Alonso and Sebastian Vettel," he exclusively told Orange.
"In every generation of F1 - as there was in my day - there are always three to five stand-out drivers. It's wrong to say there's a golden age of drivers in F1 right now but those three stand out plus perhaps Kimi Raikkonen on his day."
Despite not picking out Button as one of the top drivers in the sport, Moss said he was a deserving world champion for the work he had put in both before and during the course of the season.
"I remember when he first came along, everyone was saying this kid is a future world champion," said Moss, who was runner-up in the world championship for four consecutive seasons from 1955 to 1958. "But then he lost the plot a bit. But this winter, he sat down and worked out what he needed to do to be world champion.
"That became his single goal throughout the winter and also from the moment the season started, and full credit to him. I feel he cut down on the fun, really focused and that has really helped his concentration in some difficult races."
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For all Button's achievements, Moss saved special praise for Hamilton and said he had been even more impressed by the 2008 world champion in what proved to be a "pig of a car" for much of 2009.
"Some of Lewis' drives this season were among the best I've seen," said the octogenarian. "He is such an exciting driver to watch on the TV. And I hope he's in F1 for many years to come as he's just what the sport needs."
Moss said Hamilton was the driver most comparable to him of the modern era. "I think he's the same in that his qualities were getting up to speed quickly at a circuit but also braking late."
