Do McLaren’s Button and Hamilton get along?

Any rumours that McLaren drivers Lewis Hamilton and Jenson Button may not be the best of friends away from the track will only have been fuelled by the news that the pair have not met since Button signed to the team in November.

Hamilton (above right) admitted as much when he revealed that although he and his new teammate had been to seat fittings at the McLaren factory in Woking they had not crossed paths.

"The first time we'll start working together is later this month, when we'll both be at Woking together." said Hamilton. "Then we'll have the launch [of the new McLaren car] and the first test."

World champion Button (above left) only joined the British manufacturer at the start of the year after his previous team, Brawn GP, refused to let him leave his contract early. But now he is on board McLaren say that he and Hamilton will have an equal share of pre-season testing, which begins in Valencia next month.

But despite high hopes for the team this year Hamilton sounded a cautious note ahead of the new season, and harked back to McLaren's troubles in 2009. "You can never take competitiveness for granted in Formula One - we saw that last year," he said. "Our common goal has to be to make MP4-25 a winning proposition as quickly as possible."

Button also played down expectations, but indicated that he had no intention of letting the world championship slip from his grasp. "My aim is to keep the number one on my car for as long as possible but it is a little early to start talking about the world championship," he said. ·