Monza 1-2 down to team, insists Button.

Jenson Button has pointed out that Brawn GP's 1-2 result was the result of teamwork, not just behind the scenes at the team's Brackley factory, but also on the pit-wall when it came to taking vital strategic decisions during qualifying and the race.

Asked whether team boss Ross Brawn deserved the credit for him chasing team-mate Rubens Barrichello across the line, having defeated the KERS-equipped cars of Ferrari and McLaren in the process, the Briton pointed out that the former Ferrari strategist did not even make most of the key gameplan decisions in his own team, rather evaluating those made by other members of the backroom staff.

"You can't put a race win down to one individual, I don't think," Button insisted, "It's down to a group of individuals, and we've got a lot of very talented people within our team that come up with the strategies.

"Ross is not the strategist in our team. We have certain people that go through all the different scenarios throughout a race, and they came up with the idea [of going with a one-stop strategy]. A two-stop was still a possibility, but we went for a one-stop because we just thought we had to get off the line first and lead into turn one, otherwise it wouldn't have worked.

"The strategists talk to the engineers and talk to Ross and talk to the drivers, and we decide whatever strategy to go for. Some of us disagree sometimes, but we normally come up with the right option. Ross is a great individual, but he would say it's not down to one person."

With team-mate Barrichello claiming his second win in three races, Button left Monza with a reduced 14-point advantage in the championship standings, but remains confident of being able to maintain the upper hand through the remaining four rounds.

"Obviously I would rather be where Rubens is sat, but he did a better job this weekend," the Briton admitted in the post-race press conference, "But second is good. I lost two points to Rubens, but gained seven points on [Sebastian] Vettel, so this guy here is my closest rival. And it is good. I think we have got a good relationship. But we are very competitive people, so I am sure we are going to take down to the wire."

The championship leader pointed to two key moments that helped to define his race, both of which involved McLaren drivers.

"If we had KERS, maybe we would go for another strategy, but knowing that the KERS runners were going to go light, or thinking they were going to go light for a two-stop, a one-stop was the best option for us," Button reflected, "Our main competitor, we felt, was [Heikki] Kovalainen, but he had a very tough first lap and we both got past him which was very, very important.

"Rubens and myself were pretty good down into turn one, and Kovalainen was struggling a little bit, but he braked late so I was sat behind him through the second chicane. Then, through Lesmo One, I just put a nose up the inside and he ran a touch wide, so I was able to get him through Lesmo Two. It was a much-needed move - if I hadn't made it, I probably would have finished third or fourth, so I had to make it stick and I did.

"Then, towards the end of the final stint, I had better pace compared to Rubens, but Lewis [Hamilton] started pushing on the last three laps. My team was getting a bit excited, saying 'you have got to use mix two, you need the extra boost', but I think I had him pretty much covered. I think it is difficult to pass here, even with KERS.

"It's difficult to know which was the better tyre, but the balance of the car was good throughout the race, maybe a little bit snappy towards the end when I had Lewis behind me, but if I didn't make a mistake, I don't think he was going to get past me. Then he obviously ended his race half a lap early. I don't know what happened [on the last lap], if he made a mistake or ran a bit wide or if he had a failure or something, but it was obviously a big shunt for him."

Like Barrichello, Button remains confident that the BGP001, which has received a lot of fine-tuning in recent weeks and is poised to welcome a major update before the first of the end-of-season 'flyaways', will be a force over the final four rounds.

"It is a competitive car around here with this downforce level, and it is good to know that the car works on all sorts of different downforce levels, which bodes well for the next four races," he concluded, "But, as Rubens said, you get asked lots of questions on a Friday about where the performance is.

"I was 19th on Friday because we were doing work, race work, and, as you can see from our race performance, we did it very well. Every stage of the weekend, we have planned very well, and I am happy with my performance, happy with the team's performance. This guy [Barrichello] just went one better, so well done to him."