Button will work closely with Hamilton

Jenson Button today admitted he and new team-mate Lewis Hamilton will have to work closely together to have any chance of winning the Formula One title this season.

Button lifted the drivers' crown last year with Brawn GP, but has since joined his predecessor as world champion and fellow Briton Hamilton at McLaren.

That has led to much speculation about whether the pair can work successfully together, or whether Hamilton will get preferential treatment due to his long association with the team.

Hamilton has already endured one fractious relationship during his short time in the sport, having a bitter battle with team-mate Fernando Alonso in 2007.

But Button is promising a much better atmosphere in the McLaren garage ahead of the season's opening race in Bahrain this weekend.

'It's interesting working with Lewis because you never know what to expect from the outside,' said Button, who was speaking after receiving the Laureus Breakthrough of the Year Award in Abu Dhabi.

'But it's been really good working with him. We get on really well, we have the same goal. To achieve that we have to beat the other one and I know that.

'But first of all the important thing is that we share information and work closely, otherwise you haven't got a chance if you're not going to work together as team-mates because it's so competitive now, especially this season.

'You've got Ferrari, Mercedes, ourselves, it's going to be a very very tough season and if there is any slip up or disagreement between team-mates it's going to be very difficult to be at the front fighting.

'We both want to fight for the world championship and to do that we need to work together and hopefully we will be fighting for the title at the end of the year.

'I know Lewis pretty well and he's an exceptional driver. He's achieved a lot in the sport in such a short time so it's very interesting for me to work with him and I hope it's the same for Lewis.

'We have a lot of useful information to share, good and bad, from our careers, so we should work well together.'