Live action is thin on the ground tonight unless you've acquired a post-Olympic cycling addiction. Assuming you've not, we can start to concentrate on vehicles with four wheels which often exceed speeds of 200mph with the new F1 season getting under way on Friday.

All the pre-season hype has surrounded Brawn GP, who set the pace in testing and appear to have presented Jenson Button with a chance of racking up more points than celebrity notches on his bed-post this season. But can he or his team be trusted to last the distance?

Reliability is a major factor to take into consideration when placing a bet which covers 17 races rather than one, and in that sense Button and his crew have proved nothing.

In layman's terms, Brawn are the Manchester City of the sport, while McLaren and Ferrari represent solid citizens Manchester United and Chelsea.

After last season's heroics, Lewis Hamilton can wear the been there, done that' T-shirt and even if McLaren appear to be off the pace at the moment (or keeping their powder dry) you can be sure they'll have their house in order soon enough.

With that in mind, the reigning champ should win the battle of the Brits.

Recommended bet: Hamilton to beat Button, 8-11 (Paddy Power).