World Champion Jenson Button is hoping that a winning start to the new Formula One season will enable him to follow the trend of recent years and set up a successful title defence.
The Englishman will head to Bahrain with the knowledge that the driver to win the first race of the season has gone on to win the World Championship eight times in the last decade.
Despite the fact that no team has yet to test its 2010 car, and that he therefore has no idea how new team McLaren will perform, Button is still targeting the top step of the podium at Sakhir on March 14.
"I want to get straight into it to get the best result I can with the new car, because over the last few years the driver who has won the first race has gone on to win the Championship," he told The Sun.
"You can get some really big points in the first races when other people are making mistakes or are not ready for every scenario.
"There's a lot of work to do before we even think of stepping into the car. That's what I am going to do now so I am 100 per cent ready when we get to Bahrain. I don't want any excuses."
Button's decision to swap the 2009 Championship-winning Brawn GP team for McLaren has surprised many, who fear he will struggle to match new team-mate Lewis Hamilton.
The 2008 World Champion has been supported in his career by McLaren since he was a youngster and has assumed a dominant position at the team since making his debut three years ago.
Button, though, has insisted he would not have agreed to join McLaren if the team had not guaranteed him a level playing field.
"I wouldn't have signed if I didn't feel I had equal footing with Lewis," he said. "I feel I have that 100 per cent, and it's great.
"When you've won the World Championship you don't expect to move into a team and be number two or not get the same equipment.
"So I'm really happy with the way things are going. I'm going to be spending some time with Lewis over the next few days.
"Hopefully we can chew the fat and discuss where we go from here because it needs to be a big team effort and we really have to pull together. Lewis knows that."
Button expects plenty of competition in what promises to be the most competitive and intriguing season in many a year, not least from the driver who replaces him at Brawn - now Mercedes - GP, Michael Schumacher.
"If Ross (Brawn) didn't pick his own driver I think everyone in his team would be disappointed," Button said.
"He should be congratulated on bringing Michael back. Michael has achieved more than any other driver in F1, so having him in the sport while we're racing for the Championship will be great.
"Michael is going to be a really tough competitor but he won't have it all his own way. None of us will. It's going to be an epic Formula One season with such a competitive field of top teams and drivers.
"Will I retain my title? That's the aim."
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