McLaren team must win season's first race: Button

London, Jan 21 (ANI): Formula One champion Jenson Button, who will launch the defence of his world crown in March, has said it was vital he and his new McLaren team are ready to win the season's first race.

He believes the key will be working together with team-mate Lewis Hamilton to drive the Woking squad forward before the opener in Bahrain.

"I want to get straight into it to get the best result I can with the new car, because over the last few years the driver who has won the first race has gone on to win the championship," The Sun quoted Button, as saying.

"You can get some really big points in the first races when other people are making mistakes or are not ready for every scenario," he said.

Button learned this lesson last year when he won six of the first seven races for his former Brawn team to lay the foundations for his title tilt.

"There's a lot of work to do before we even think of stepping into the car. That's what I am going to do now so I am 100 per cent ready when we get to Bahrain. I don't want any excuses," he said.

Button is sure he and Hamilton will co-operate even though many F1 observers believe there will be a destructive clash of egos between the last two world champions.

Hamilton has been McLaren's blue-eyed boy for years, while Button is the new kid on the block. (ANI)