Honda team boss Nick Fry insists that Jenson Button is one of the top three drivers in Formula One after McLaren chief Ron Dennis suggested that his new signing Lewis Hamilton had more to offer than his fellow Briton.

On signing 21-year-old Hamilton to partner world champion Fernando Alonso, Dennis was quoted as saying that there was no-one on the grid aside from the Spaniard, Kimi Raikkonen and Michael Schumacher who really stood out – making the addition of Hamilton to his driver line-up a logical move.

However, speaking to Reuters, Fry said he was of the opinion that Button – currently on the sidelines with a rib injury sustained while karting – was just as good as both Alonso and Raikkonen, the two men expected by many to fight for the title next season.

"I believe that Jenson is up there with both Alonso and Raikkonen as the top three," he said. "There's others that will do well from time to time but in terms of consistently high performance he's in the top three without a shadow of a doubt.

"Lewis Hamilton will do extremely well, I have absolutely no doubt about that, but it will probably take a little bit of time. He may do well in the first race but I think we've seen with other younger drivers that it takes a bit of experience to do well in every race. And in order to compete for the championship, you've got to do well in every race.

"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."