For the avoidance of doubt, I’m suggesting that Nico Rosberg is like Jenson Button. Not Benjamin Button, of insipid Oscar nominated film fame. Rosberg is baby-faced, but I don’t for a moment believe that he was born as a tiny old man. But if he had been, maybe he would have looked like Bernie Ecclestone, Formula 1′s most famous tiny old man.

Enough.

Rosberg has been talking about his future, and sounds bullish:

“I’m in a strong position this year. Definitely as strong as I’ve been in my career so there are some great options for next year.”

With a move to McLaren being talked about, he’s right to be bullish. But it’s something he said in response to a question about his performance this year which makes me compare him to Button:

“I’m fifth in the world championship which I think there’s no way I could have done better than that.”

Before this season, I defended Button’s record, arguing that he’s always done the best he could with the car he had. I think it’s the same with Rosberg.

It’s slightly harder to argue though, because Rosberg has only ever driven for Williams, and he’s not always had the highest calibre of team-mate.

Only in his first season was he beaten in the overall standings by the man he shared a garage with. That was the vastly more experienced Mark Webber, but even then Webber only scored 7 points to Rosberg’s 4.

Since then he’s outperformed Alex Wurz and Kazuki Nakajima – not the toughest of opposition.

But Rosberg deserves a move to McLaren, I’d say. His only problem is that Lewis Hamilton is objectively a faster driver, so in the same team Rosberg is unlikely to win any championships.

I’d compare him to Button again. They’re both very good drivers, but just shy of the best in the world – a title which maybe Fernando Alonso and Hamilton would fight over. Would Button have the championship lead he does this year if Hamilton or Alonso had the same equipment? Probably not.

But if Rosberg wants to just start winning races, then McLaren is no bad move.

Then again, Williams are widely tipped to start challenging at the front again in the next few years, as the manufacturer-backed teams are forced to reduce their budgets.

Oh my, it must be so complicated for Formula 1 drivers. The poor things.