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[EwanM]

Brawn 'should dominate Malaysia'
Only rain can stop Brawn GP duo Jenson Button and Rubens Barrichello in the Malaysian Grand Prix, their rivals say.

The pair occupied the top two places on the grid before finishing first and second in their debut race in Australia and rivals fear a repeat this weekend.

"If it doesn't rain they should win. If it does things might look different but rain's the only chance we all have," said Williams driver Nico Rosberg.

BMW-Sauber boss Mario Theissen said their cars are "in a different league".

"The true performance came out in qualifying and in the first one or two laps in the race," he added.


"After that I think they didn't really exploit their potential. I don't see a chance to go at that pace."

Red Bull driver Mark Webber agreed, saying: "Brawn are on another level, obviously, and will be so for definitely this event and then we'll see what happens in China."

Button, whose win last weekend was only his second in 154 career starts, played down talk that his team is already beyond reach.

"It's difficult to say after one race, really, that we're unbeatable," he said.

"Red Bull were obviously quick, quicker than what we expected in Melbourne. I didn't think that they would be the team that would be up at the front. I also think that Ferrari will catch up, they always do.

"Those teams are the teams for me that are going to be competitive going forward and also BMW.

"It seems to be very close, we seem to have a slight advantage and then everyone is close and in the mix. It makes it exciting and I think different people will stand out in this race."

Story from BBC SPORT:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/sport1 ... 979505.stm

Published: 2009/04/02 14:53:46 GMT

© BBC MMIX

[SarahB62]

Let's hope everyone has their waterwings or did the FIA ban them or not ban them or ban them after the race or are they just confused?

[texasmr2]

That would be cool if it was a wet race and my sources tell me the 'waterwings' are still legal yet they are under investigation and a decision will not be made until the end of the season.

[Gert]

Wet race = high chance of safety car - anybody know what the rules are for that?

[Denthúl]

Wet race = high chance of safety car - anybody know what the rules are for that?

Wet race equals high chance of a red flag.

[MAD MAX]

Wet race = high chance of safety car - anybody know what the rules are for that?

Yep - McLaren get penalised by the stewards

[SarahB62]

TexasMr2 wrote: That would be cool if it was a wet race and my sources tell me the 'waterwings' are still legal yet they are under investigation and a decision will not be made until the end of the season.

would love to know your sources So I guess the final outcome of the 2009 WDC and WCC will not be decided until 6 days after the final race when the FIA and Bernie and the men in suits decide who they want to award the trophies to after manipulating the points according to their regulations!

[Jensonb]

Wow, for once I don't want it to rain

This is a strange thing for me...

[irons_4_ever]

if its a wet race what are the odds on it finishing. why not start it earlier

[juggles]

I'm hoping for a wet race, the Brawns should still be near the front because of their downforce package so Jenson would be in with a good shout, and we've seen what Lewis can do in the wet. Provided he hasn't been kicked out of the World Championship that is...

[texasmr2]

TexasMr2 wrote: That would be cool if it was a wet race and my sources tell me the 'waterwings' are still legal yet they are under investigation and a decision will not be made until the end of the season.

would love to know your sources So I guess the final outcome of the 2009 WDC and WCC will not be decided until 6 days after the final race when the FIA and Bernie and the men in suits decide who they want to award the trophies to after manipulating the points according to their regulations!

My source imbedded me with a chip so all communication is traced yet we could discuss this over a few drinks!

[texasmr2]

if its a wet race what are the odds on it finishing. why not start it earlier

F1 drivers are touted as the best in the world so why should they NOT race in the rain??

[Denthúl]

if its a wet race what are the odds on it finishing. why not start it earlier

F1 drivers are touted as the best in the world so why should they NOT race in the rain??

It's not the rain that would be the issue, but the amount of light. Whilst in semi-decent (even cloudy) conditions there would be enough to last the whole race, if it was to rain heavily then it could become too dark to race before the race is completed.

[scotty]

if its a wet race what are the odds on it finishing. why not start it earlier

F1 drivers are touted as the best in the world so why should they NOT race in the rain??

I think he might have been referring to the race being red flagged due to the conditions as in Aus 1991...

Edit: as above ^^

[7UpJordan]

if its a wet race what are the odds on it finishing. why not start it earlier

F1 drivers are touted as the best in the world so why should they NOT race in the rain??

It's not the rain that would be the issue, but the amount of light. Whilst in semi-decent (even cloudy) conditions there would be enough to last the whole race, if it was to rain heavily then it could become too dark to race before the race is completed.

I agree, F1 cars don't have lights unlike Touring Cars, Sportscars, Le Mans Series cars. Drivers have to use what little light they have when the rain comes down. Once again we can all blame Bernie for his neurotic twilight race idea, if he's the one after a spectacle he'll get a disaster at this rate.