Button has been pleased with how quickly he has settled at McLaren

Formula 1 world champion Jenson Button says he has "never been so hungry" for a season to start after easing into life at McLaren.

Button, who is 30 on Tuesday, told BBC Sport his move from Brawn GP to McLaren at the end of last season had made him even more eager to impress.

"I have never been so hungry as I am this year," said Button, who will join Lewis Hamilton in an all-English team.

"It's a real challenge coming to a new team and working alongside Lewis."

Button had spent seven years with his previous team as it morphed through various guises as BAR-Honda, Honda and then Brawn.

"Some of the new hunger is because of the new environment," he said.

"That's given me a real buzz and I cant wait to get back to the factory to move us forward so that we can be competitive as soon as we step out on the circuit in February for the first test."

McLaren will run their new car for the first time on 1 February at Valencia before three further tests in Spain during February - two at Jerez and one at the Circuit de Catalunya near Barcelona.

Having started his contract with McLaren on 1 January, Button has spent a week away with his new fitness trainer in Finland before moving into the simulator at the team's Woking factory.

"It's amazing how quickly you can feel part of the team, that's always a worry when you move from team to team but I've fitted in pretty quickly," said Button.

606: DEBATE McLaren are a very professional team and obviously have a fantastic driver line-up, but I expect Mercedes to be right up there cosicave

Former Ferrari driver Eddie Irvine has criticised Button's decision to leave Brawn and go head-to-head with 2008 champion Hamilton, saying Button will get "murdered" by the man widely considered to be the fastest driver in the world.

But Button says he is looking forward to working with his new team-mate.

"I haven't talked to Lewis this year but I spoke to him last year in December," said Button.

"For both of us its great to work together because we have both achieved what we set out to achieve initially, we have also been through some pretty tough times and we have a lot of experience so I look forward to working with him.

"We will see what happens when we get out onto the circuit and hopefully we can produce a car that's competitive enough that we will be fighting at the front."

The pair will line up against each other for the first time competitively in McLaren cars at the opening grand prix in Bahrain on 14 March.

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