Sergio Perez said he enjoyed battling with J🌞enson Button in the Italian Grand Prix because the McLaren driver is "alw꧂ays clean".

Button and Perez were team-mates at McLaren last season, with𒁏 the two having some close fights on numerous occasions, most notably in Bahrain. During Sunday's race, Perez was struggling with braking issues and had to get very def🧜ensive at times but having twice re-passed Button to hold on to seventh place he said the battle was a fair one.

"The race was a lot of fun," Perez said. "We were always fighting somebody and always pushing hard. It was great racing and it's good to score important points for the championship. The most important part of the race was the fight I had with Jenson, which was really nice and reminde🌞d me of the old days.

"I know he is a driver that you can fight really hard and it's always clean. At the end of the race with Kevin [Magnussen], I knew he had a penalty and there was no need to attack hi✃m. It meant I could focus on keeping Jenson behind me, which was not easy."

Team principal Vijay Mallya described Perez's driving as "mighty" but rued Nico H﷽ulkenberg's struggles with his car.

"Six points keeps us where we need to be in our close championship battleꦆ with just a single point separating us 🍬from fifth place," Mallya said. "Sergio was mighty today, showing once again how well he can race with some brilliant overtaking and defending.

"Nico made a great start, but he has not been completely comfortable with the car balance all weekend and especially in the race today. Despite his very strong start, points were out of reach. With six races remaining this season, I still believe we have all to play for and that we must keep pushing har🥂d."