Hamilton ready for battle

Lewis Hamilton believes he is in his best shape for years as he prepares for what he feels may be "the most exciting Formula One season yet".

It is a season that sees the 25-year-old partnered by last year's world champion Jenson Button, and with seven-time king Michael Schumacher returning to the sport after a three-year hiatus.

"What he did last year was incredible, and what he has done in his career has been remarkable," said Hamilton on Button. "Jenson's got a huge amount of experience and I'm heading into my fourth year, so I've quite good experience as well, so I think we will both just feed off each other, learn a huge amount from one another."

Naturally, the pre-season talk is currently focusing on how Button will fair against Hamilton, who has been with McLaren since 1998.

To that end, and to ensure equality, McLaren have today announced a behind-the-scenes reshuffle with Phil Prew, Hamilton's race engineer for the last three years, overseeing both drivers.

Although Button officially started life at McLaren at the turn of the year, they have yet to bump into one another, although when they do Hamilton can foresee no issues.

Hamilton added of Button: "I haven't had the chance to meet up with him yet. We've both been away training, but later on this month is when we get to do our first bit of work together, and I'm sure we'll get on very well.

"Clearly we both want to go into the season on the right foot, and we're going to be working together to push the team forward, but we also both want to win.

"When two good drivers work together in the same direction towards the same goal, they push the team forward twice as fast as when there are two drivers going in different directions.

"So I see it (Button's arrival) as a real positive for the team. I'm very excited to get to the first test and have his input into our team."