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Less tyre unknowns for Button in 2013

Jenson Button was notoriously good at looking after the 2012 Pirelli tyres but struggled to get them up to temperature early in the season © Press Association

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Jenson Button expects all of the teams to feel "more assured about the Pirelli tyres" in 2013.

The start of 2012 saw seven different winners from the first seven races of the season as teams and drivers alike struggled to get to grips with the rapidly-degrading Pirelli rubber. However, Button told the official McLaren website that the lessons learnt throughout last year will mean the teams are in a much better position to react to the 2013 tyres.

"I think all the teams will go into this season feeling more assured about the Pirelli tyres," Button said. "As you know, last year was a bit of an unknown as we all got to grips with the new rubber, but that's less likely to happen this time around, so there's more stability there. There are differences to the tyres - the shape and the compounds, but I don't think they'll be as fundamental to the overall car performance as they were last year."

Button also said he expected the competitive order to remain the same as the teams work to refine the cars with the rules staying generally unchanged.

"In terms of regulations, yes there is some stability, so I expect most teams will have continued to refine their car package over the winter. It's always really interesting to see how the cars develop during a period of rules stability, because you watch the progress from year to year as the engineers refine and improve their thinking and ideas. You can literally see how the car has improved from season to season. It's crazy.

"I hope there's stability for another reason, too: I won the last race of 2012 so it would be perfect to win the first race of 2013!"

© ESPN Sports Media Ltd.