Scuderia Toro Rosso's technical director Giorgio Ascanelli, who oversaw new World Champion Sebastian Vettel's first victory in Formula 1 in the 2008 Italian Grand Prix at Monza, believes that the 23-year-old German has a similar level of ability to that of Ayrton Senna.
Ascanelli, who worked with Senna during the late Brazilian's glory years at McLaren in the early 1990s, said that he knew Vettel was a special talent from the moment he began working with him.
"I am a very lucky man, because at the start of my career and now at the end I have been touched by perfection," said the Italian. "I said two years ago that Sebastian Vettel would be World Champion and here we are.
"You never know how many championships he can win. To quote Ron Dennis, winning a championship is relatively easy – but being consistently at the top of your ability is bloody hard," he added. "That's the difficult part, but I think Sebastian has got the will to do it. He's going to be a big competitor for a long time."