First entering F1 with Benetton in 1990, over the years that followed, having enjoyed subsequent stints with Ferrari, Renault and now Mercedes, James Allison has worked with some of the finest drivers of the modern era, including Michael Schumacher during his title-winning years at Benetton.

Over the Suzuka weekend, Allison was asked, having now worked with Sebastian Vettel, Fernando Alonso and Lewis Hamilton, who impressed him most and whether there are any significant differences between the three.

Understandably, Allison took the diplomatic approach.

"I get asked this a lot," he admitted, "and it's a frustrating question because, first of all, there's an impossibility of answering it because there's only one way to know for sure and it's to line them all up in exactly the same equipment on the same day and have a championship where you find out exactly.

"All I can tell you is that all three of them have got the victories and the achievements that they have, not by good fortune but by being brilliantly skilful racing drivers.

"I would add to that, that it has been a considerable pleasure joining Mercedes this year for many, many reasons but one of those was that it was my first opportunity to start working alongside Lewis.

"I think I'd only ever said hello to him once in all the years prior to that and the experience of working with him is very different to what I imagined it would be.

"I've found a racing driver of the sort of excellence that all of us can see from his statistics and the way he goes about his job," he added, "but what has been particularly good is that I've found a guy that conducts himself as a man in a way that makes you happy to work alongside him. And that's been an enjoyable and good thing about joining Mercedes."