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Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ Sport has won a prestigious Award for the short film that introduced the coverage of the season-opening Australian Grand Prix.

The film was nominated in the , and won the Graphic Design - Programme Content Sequences category.

The judges described it as "a slick, beautifully conceived and executed piece of work, with skilful design following throughout".

F1 editor Mark Wilkin and Richard Gort, the producer of the film, were on hand to pick up the trophy.

You can watch the film, and the F1 title sequence, here:

's decision to sign for means he will head into his world title defence facing the toughest challenge of his career.

Button joins in an all-English line-up that will have those watching F1 salivating. Some will be attracted by two such appealing figures in the same team - not to mention the glamour that will be provided by their respective girlfriends. Others will be fascinated to see how the two drivers match up on the track.

And that is where the risks for the McLaren new boy are immense, even though Button has seven years' more experience than his new partner.

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What was already shaping up to be a fascinating 2010 Formula 1 season got a whole lot more intriguing in the wake of the announcement that .

Of greatest interest to most people in Britain will be the now-very-likely prospect that will become 's team-mate at McLaren, the new world champion's negotiations with the Mercedes-nee-Brawn team having reached an impasse.

While it is still just about possible that Button could stay at what will now be called Mercedes Grand Prix, it is very unlikely and, on the face of it, that leaves McLaren with an all-British line-up that, in terms of publicity at least, lives up to the billing of 'dream team'.

The last two world champions - both of them English and immensely marketable - in the same team would surely guarantee McLaren the lion's share of interest at the start of next season.

It will be surprising to many that Button will almost certainly not be staying with the team that made him world champion.

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is the latest in a series of high-profile exits by the world's biggest car companies - but it will almost certainly be the last, at least for a while.

Toyota follows and as the third manufacturer to pull out of the sport in the space of 11 months. But the three left in - , and Renault - all seem to be secure for the foreseeable future.

Certainly, no-one has any doubts about Mercedes and Ferrari.

Mercedes, which owns 40% of the team, is in the process of expanding and strengthening its commitment. It is currently deciding whether to take a controlling interest in the championship-winning Brawn team - perhaps as much as 75%, although that would probably mean Mercedes divesting itself of its shareholding in McLaren.

Ferrari, who are owned by Fiat, have been in grand prix racing since the 1920s - and are the only team to have raced in F1 every year since the inception of the world championship in 1950. And, historically, the car company was born out of the race team, not the other way around.

As far as Renault goes, there have been doubts this year about its commitment. During F1's summer of political discontent, the French company were mentioned by , the former president of F1's governing body the , as one of three manufacturers likely to pull out - the other two being Toyota and BMW.

But in the wake of the , Renault's bosses confirmed to the FIA that they would remain in F1 in 2010.

And further indication of its commitment came in the signing last month of the highly rated Polish driver . They are expected to announce imminently - perhaps as early as Thursday - that the German former Toyota driver will be in the other car.

Toyota, by contrast, might have been making noises about wanting or Kubica for 2010, but they were conspicuous by their lack of signings.

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