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Brawn disappointed with German display

buttonBrawn GP admitted that they were disappointed with their showing at the German Grand Prix after neither of their cars were able to make the podium for the first time this season.

Shortly after his negative comments to the world’s press, Rubens Barrichello proved to be more philosophical in his approach to understand why he did not win the German Grand Prix. The Brazilian conceded that a fuel rig problem plus the Brawn’s lack of pace had prevented him to wreap any rewards from his superb start.

Barrichello managed to hold off a late charge from Fernando Alonso to finish 6th.

Jenson Button was also disappointed with his drive, but insisted that his points finish, in 5th place, was the best he could have achieved after losing time behind Heikki Kovalainen in the opening stages of the race.

Jenson Button – 5th: “All points are valuable but my race started badly and didn’t get much better today. I had a poor start to drop back to fifth after the first turn and was able to get ahead of Massa at the start of the second lap but just couldn’t get past Kovalainen. His pace was way off what we could have achieved at that point of the race but there was just no way through. We struggled with graining and tyre degradation throughout with both tyres not working well for us. The problem with the fuel rig at Rubens’ second stop also affected my race as we were so close on the track and he was struggling with the prime tyre. So overall it has been a tough and disappointing day for the team. Congratulations to Mark on his first win and I’m really pleased for him as I know how good that feels. I just can’t wait to get to Hungary in two weeks where we will have new parts and hopefully warmer weather to take the fight to the Red Bulls.”

Rubens Barrichello – 6th: “I had a great start today and was really pleased to have got ahead of Mark down into the first corner despite our collision. After leading on the first lap, it is of course hugely disappointing to have finished in sixth position. It was a combination of things really which are now very clear to me having spoken to the team. We didn’t have enough pace compared to the Red Bulls to win but the fuel rig problem at my second stop where we had to switch rigs probably cost me a place on the podium. That dropped me out behind Rosberg and the extra lap which Jenson had at our final stops was enough for him to get ahead of me. We’ll put this race behind and work really hard ahead to Hungary to try and catch up to the Red Bulls. Congratulations to Mark for his first win.”

Ross Brawn: “Without doubt it was a very disappointing race for the team today although we were able to score some points to minimise the damage to our championship challenge. Quite simply, we didn’t have the pace to match the Red Bulls. We opted for a three-stop strategy for both cars to give ourselves the best possible chance of achieving a podium position. Both drivers were battling with the tyres throughout the race and trying very hard to keep them in the operating window whilst managing their graining issues. The problem with the fuel rig at Rubens’ second stop dropped him out behind Rosberg which compromised his race strategy and possibly prevented him for achieving third position. Jenson had a difficult start which dropped him down to fifth and he was also affected by Rubens’ problems at the second stop which resulted in the two cars being so close on the track. We will take a close look at the lessons to be learned from this weekend before Hungary and hope to come back fighting there with some performance developments which should help us close the gap to Red Bull. Finally our congratulations to Mark Webber on a very well-deserved first win today.”

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