Button enjoyed Perez battle

One of the highlights from the Italian Grand Prix came further down the pack with excellent wheel-to-wheel racing between a number of drivers.

Two of those drivers were former team-mates with the McLaren of Jenson Button battling hard-but-fair with former team-mate and now Force India driver Sergio Perez.

The battle might have ultimately been over seventh and eighth place, but that didn’t stop the battle being excellent viewing.

‘I don’t think I could have had that battle with Chceo last year, but as rivals in different teams it seemed to work pretty well,’ Button told Sky Sports.

‘It is a shame that I couldn’t get past him, I tried so many times but he was so good on the brakes I was locking up fronts and rears trying to match him which really put me in a bad position for the next corner. But I enjoyed, it was a lot of fun and hopefully great TV and great wheel-to-wheel action with a lot of drivers so great to see some nice clean racing.

‘It is something that last year as team-mates it might have ended up a bit different, but I have a lot of respect for the guy, he drove really well and I really enjoyed the fight with him.

Button’s explanation regarding his brakes goes some way towards explaining why the 2009 Formula One World Champion couldn’t make a move stick to get past the Mexican, whilst the likes of Daniel Ricciardo at Red Bull Racing could.