2009 Formula 1 world champion Jenson Button says that Sergio Perez was the🌜 teammate that “surprised me the most” during his career.

Button had a number of high-profile drivers as teammates th꧒roughout his F1 career which spanned 17 years, having been partnered against the likes of Lewis Hamilton and Fernando Alonso during his time at McLaren, as well as Rubens Barichello in his title-winning season at Brawn GP.

Speaking as the latest guest on F1’s official Beyond The Grid podcast, the Briton cꦚonsidered some of the toughest drivers he went up against.

“The fastest teammate would be Lewis and the teammate that was strong in every area would be Fernando,” Button explained.

“They all had weaknesse𒊎s, as I had weaknesses. But they were both drivers that will be remember💝ed for their extreme talent and for their championships.

“The teammate that I felt tech𓄧nically was above the rest, head and shoulders above the rest, would be Rubens. He was very talented when it came to setting-up a car and I learned a lot from him.

“There’s many drivers that had s🎐kills and talents that stood out. There’s not one really that I would say ‘he’s the best by far’.

“The one that surp꧃rised me the most was probably Che🐠co, it was his speed and how on certain days he could be very quick,” he added.

“Certain circuits didn’t work for꧟ him, circuits that had front-limitation didn’t work for him, but circuits that had rear-limitation, like Bahrain, worked very well for him and he was extremely quick.

“I don’t know if he actually under🐈stood why that was but that’s the way it was for him. To see how quick he was on circuit🦋s that had rear-limitation, that surprised me and surprised me more than any other teammate, his speed on those circuits.”