Button Praises Teammate Fisichella

Briton Jenson Button expects Giancarlo Fisichella to be a hard teammate at the Benetton team in the 2001 season.

Briton Button raced alongside Ralf Schumacher at BMW-Williams in his debut year last season, and he believes Italian Fisichella will be hard to outpace this time around.

"He's going to be a hard teammate this year," Button said. "You don't know what to expect before you come into a team, you don't know how to judge them until you drive the same car - but he's definitely quick."

Button acknowledges that Fisichella, who has already spent three years with Benetton, will start the season with better knowledge of the team and the car.

But the young British driver is hoping that the two will be able to work together and that some of Fisichella's speed will rub off on him this year.

"It's looking good," he said. "He knows the circuits very well, and he can help me out with them. He knows the team, the car, and I think we can work well together and that's what we need."

Button sees the driver and team partnership as one that will blossom to a title challenging position. "We can move everything forwards and up," he explained. "Then we can start fighting one another for the title over the next few years."