Reigning Formula 1 World Champion Jenson Button and his teammate, 2008 champion Lewis Hamilton predict the 2010 season will be hardly fought.

During a phone-in from the McLaren factory on Monday, Button said the refueling ban would create very unusual strategies.

And the McLaren driver admits the teams' work is more difficult this year because of how unpredictable things will be during Grands Prix.

photo: McLaren

"I think, looking at testing, we are going to get a lot of very unusual strategies in the race," said Button.

"I think the top teams will have similar strategies. But you'll also have the teams that aren't so competitive trying crazy strategies like pitting after lap one and hoping to run to the end of the race. It's going be a busy Sunday afternoon for the engineers. They have to try and read every situation."

The former Brawn GP driver thinks his smooth style will suit the new rules to perfection.

"My driving style I think it does work with the new regulations," he declared. "I think most drives on the grid can adapt to it, we've seen that in testing. It's still a different way of driving for me because it is like an endurance race. It's like driving at Le Mans, you really have to look after the tires at the start of the stint. If you damage the tires on lap three you are screwed for the whole stint. You really have to be very gentle with the car.”

Encouraged by the performance of the MP4-25 with a high fuel load, Lewis Hamilton believes McLaren's long run pace during last week's testing at Barcelona puts the team in a strong position heading to Bahrain.

“On the long runs, if you look at the times, I did a race distance so you can guess what fuel load I was on and the balance of the car and the times I did were very competitive - probably the most competitive of the day, so that was a big boost of confidence for me,” said Hamilton.

"I think the Mercedes was very competitive over its long runs and so was the Ferrari. [But] when you go to another circuit it's really about how we use the tires, and the temperatures. We have to manage these in the best way we can,” he added.






Photo Credit : McLaren