“He Was Very Relentless”: Ex-Colleague Reveals Where Sebastian Vettel Trumped Jenson Button

Former F1 strategist-turned-pundit Bernie Collins has had the privilege of working with some of the most talented drivers in the sport. This illustrious list also contains the names of two world champions: Sebastian Vettel and Jenson Button. When quizzed about who was the most hard-working, Collins replied Vettel.

Collins discussed how the four-time world champion had a very high racing IQ and his approach in the cockpit was almost like that of a strategist on the pit wall. Moreover, the German former driver also had another ace up his sleeve.

Vettel also possessed an unparalleled amount of historical knowledge about the sport. As per Collins, Vettel used this to his advantage on track many times.

Good bye to a legend of the sport. One off the kindest people I have ever worked with. #DankeSeb #AbuDhabiGP pic.twitter.com/dRwJdLTI9N

— Bernie Collins (@bernie_collins1) November 20, 2022

Speaking to James Allen for Autosport, Collins explained, “I think the person who was the hardest working was probably Sebastian Vettel. He was very relentless. He understood what his strategy was, and what it could be for others. He would be the first one in the strategy meeting to go ‘have you looked at the race in nineteen-whatever it is’!”

On the other hand, as Collins has explained in the past, Button had his own set of qualities. Some of those were not apparent in any of the other drivers that the former Aston Martin head of strategy has worked with.

Button was the easiest F1 driver to work with: Collins

In her book, ‘How to Win a Grand Prix: From Pitlane to Podium‘, Collins credited Button for having great situational awareness and explained why she believes the former McLaren driver was the easiest to work with.

On this day in 2009, Jenson Button won the Monaco Grand Prix, his fifth victory of the season, leading almost every lap of the race. pic.twitter.com/kab9MgFZ74

— hourly jenson button (@hourlyjense) May 24, 2024

She had written, “He [Button] did not need coaching or the sort of support a younger, less experienced driver might require. Jenson understood how the car would react to certain changes and he had the ability to explain very clearly what he wanted. He was very easy to work with.”