Hamilton excited about Button link-up

Speaking to the BBC, Hamilton said he was excited about the prospect of linking up with the reigning world champion - and reckoned the two of them will work brilliantly together this season.

"I'm very excited," said Hamilton. "What he did last year was incredible, and what he has done in his career has been remarkable.

"I haven't had the chance to meet up with him yet. He's been away training and I've been away training, but later on this month is when we get to do our first bit of work together, and I'm sure we'll get on very well.

"Clearly we both want to go into the season on the right foot, and we're going to be working together to push the team forward, but we also both want to win. I think it is a good approach."

He added: "Jenson's got a huge amount of experience and I'm heading into my fourth year, so I've quite good experience as well, so I think we will both just feed off each other, learn a huge amount from one another.

"What you will when two good drivers work together in the same direction towards the same goal, they push the team forward twice as fast as when there are two drivers going in different directions.

"So I see it (Button's arrival) as a real positive for the team. I'm very excited to get to the first test and have his input into our team."

Hamilton said that he felt he had matured throughout the 2009 campaign - especially after being caught-up in the middle of the lying scandal that surrounded him at the Australian Grand Prix.

"Throughout the season I grew a lot as an individual," he said. "I made some mistakes, but I grew from those, learned a huge amount. I had amazing support from my family, my fans and my team. They always say you get wiser.

"I feel I'm a little less immature, a bit wiser and I hope that will reflect on my approach and performance this year. I hope it will continue help me in my decision-making process and all that stuff in the future."

And he thought that F1 fans should prepare themselves for the best season in years thanks to the quality of drivers in the field - which includes the return of Michael Schumacher.

"I kind of heard that he was thinking of coming back but nobody knew," he said. "Then I was away training and heard a little bit more, but I had a feeling he would come back, and I think it's incredible for the sport. I really do think 2010 could perhaps be the most exciting season of Formula 1 yet.

"We've got Michael, Fernando Alonso, unfortunately we don't have Kimi (Raikkonen), but we've Jenson, me, Felipe Massa -- all the best drivers and all in good teams. For this year it is going to be difficult to know who is going to be at the front, and you won't until the first race.

"But having Michael back, the seven-time world champion, is exciting for all us drivers, it's an honour to have him with us, because what he's achieved is incredible. We're honoured. We're all just proud to be on the same track as him, but of course we'll all want to beat him."