The 31-year-old Scot saw his rival finish ahead of him at the San Marino Grand Prix at Imola on Sunday.

Button picked up a further two points for his Renault team by finishing in fifth place - the third race in a row he has finished in the points.

It helped him extend his lead over McLaren's Coulthard to three points in the battle to finish as top Brit.

But Coulthard believes Button and his Renault team are unlikely to repeat the feat too often this season.

"They beat us but they were not that close to us in qualifying and they have only done it in one race out of four," said Coulthard, who failed to finish the first two races of the season.

"I don't know if you can call that serious competition.

"I am not trying to belittle their performance because maybe during the course of the next 13 races they will be stronger than us. But one swallow does not make a summer.

"Credit where it's due. Jenson drove a good race, but I believe he had a quicker car otherwise I would be in the wrong business."