Despite not racing together anymore, former McLaren team-mates Jenson Button and Lewis Hamilton are aiming to team up in a bid to halt the dominance of German four-time World Champion Sebastian Vettel and his team Red Bull.

The British pair - partners at McLaren for three seasons between 2010 and 2012 - have been sharing information on the rest of the field, in an attempt to gain an upper hand for Mercedes-powered teams.

Button, who still drives for the Woking-based squad, is desperate to get them back on track after the team's worst ever season in 2013, slumping to a disappointing fifth in the Constructors' Championship.

Button said: “We all need to work together because while we are here to fight each other as teams, the more information we can share in the next weeks or months can really help us.

“Looking at the timesheets in Jerez, it is very interesting because we were all running different programmes and engine modes.

“We had different data from Mercedes, Williams and Force India, so there is a lot of useful information because we did a lot of mileage.

“So we are all in good shape if we continue like that."

Red Bull had a disastrous first testing in Jerez in the last week of January, with the second test scheduled to begin on February 19th in Bahrain, where they are still heavily tipped to bounce back ahead of the season opener in Australia on March 18th.

At this stage, despite now representing different teams, 2008 World Champion Hamilton - now racing in tandem with Nico Rosberg for Mercedes - believes is a crucial time to share information on the new rule changes and regulations affecting the sport.

Hamilton said: “Most years are like this where you spend the first couple of days getting everything together.

“Now is a more trying time but we never expected to have had as any laps as we do now. Particularly since people like Red Bull have not done so many laps. It’s crucial for development and mileage and improving reliability.

“Time on track is precious. We are trying to get every lap we can, as is everyone. Somehow we are getting more than the rest."

While Red Bull covered just 21 laps in Jerez, Mercedes have covered more than 10 times that, over 300 laps, in a marked display that Renault are well behind Ferrari and Mercedes-powered engines in the early stages of new car models.

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About the author
Dan Smith
Sports journalism, radio presenter for 103.9 Voice FM and general news bloke, trying to make my way in the working world. Anyone want to pay me to write for them? Have pen, will travel!