London: Jenson Button has been hailed as a future world champion in waiting by Honda team boss Nick Fry.

"I believe that Jenson is up there with both Fernando Alonso and Kimi Räikkönen in the top three," he said.

"There are others that will do well from time to time, but in terms of consistently high performance, he's in the top three," he said.

Button, who finally secured his maiden grand prix victory during the Hungarian GP this year, is expected to have further success next season especially after his strong performance in Brazil.

"Before the race in Brazil we were very clear that to have a chance of getting on the podium from 14th on the grid he had to overtake six cars on the first two laps," added Fry.

"Jenson said 'I can do that'. It wasn't a matter of persuading him, it was 'I definitely can do that', and he did.

"I think that is really the difference after Hungary compared to prior to that. Jenson is the consummate professional, he drives himself very, very hard and there's not been one time in the last couple of years where I've felt he's really put a foot out of place," he said.