After his performance at the Monaco Grand Prix, which was virtually faultless all weekend for a second week running, Mark Webber could be heading the way of Jenson Button.

Last season, Button’s confidence grew and grew, contributing to the ludicrously successful start he had to the season, which ultimately led to his world championship. Watching from afar, Webber seems to have a similarly relaxed confidence, which has started to pay similar dividends.

This talk about Webber is, of course, terribly wishy-washy. But everyone seems to be saying it, so it must be true. And the more I think about it, the more similarities there are between Webber and Button.

Webber has enjoyed a similar level of success to that which Button had prior to 2009. After nine seasons of Formula 1, 2004 had been Button‘s single consistently good season, when he finished 3rd overall; and he had one race win to his name, from 2006. For Webber, of eight completed, 2009 has been his one consistently good season, finishing 4th and notching up two wins.

That sort of experience and record has also led to both men being compared to Nigel Mansell, possibly Formula 1′s favourite example of the late-bloomer.

Now Webber has the best car on the grid, as Button did in 2009.

Less obviously, both have spent a lot of time with different incarnations of the same team: Button with BAR, Honda and finally Brawn GP; Webber with Jaguar up to the point that Red Bull took over, at which point he moved to Williams, only to eventually return to Red Bull Racing.

Both have also had fairly uninspiring periods at Williams – and Frank Williams has had some very kind words to say about Webber recently, much as Patrick Head did about Button in Monaco a year ago.

Curious similarities. It doesn’t mean I think Webber will win the title though – my money is still on Sebastian Vettel – but it’s interesting to note nonetheless. Or at least I think it is.