Gascoyne: Button not championship contender.

Spyker F1 designer Mike Gascoyne has added to claims that Jenson Button is not world championship material, despite the Briton having taken a breakthrough win in 2006.

Speaking to PA Sport a day after Spyker's 2007 team launch, Gascoyne questioned whether Button had the same flair as Fernando Alonso and Kimi Raikkonen, the two men he believes will fight over this year's F1 crown despite switching teams.

"I agreed with Flavio [Briatore] when he replaced Button with Alonso [at Renault], as I think Alonso had the spark that made him stand out." he admitted, "Fernando won the championship last year when the car wasn't, at times, the quickest - does [Button] have the racecraft and the ability to do that? That's a question mark."

Although praising of Button's Hungarian GP victory, Gascoyne points to Honda's shortcomings as another reason why the Briton won't challenge Alonso and Raikkonen at the head of the standings in 2007.

"[Jenson] got the monkey off his back last year, but Honda can't help but to talk themselves up at the start of the year," he explained, "You've got to wait and see how competitive the car is. [Jenson]'s proved that if the car's there then he'll deliver. He's a race winner, but it's whether or not he's a championship winner [that counts]."