New Honda team principal Ross Brawn has given the thumbs up to Rubens Barrichello, saying that he does not believe the current driver line-up needs to change.
For the first time in his F1 career, Barrichello failed to score a single point during the 2007 season leading to some speculation that Honda were planning to send the Brazilian driver to their B-team Super Aguri to pave the way for Fernando Alonso. Much of the speculation came from a German news report which stated that Alonso had visited Honda s headquarters for a seat fitting an event which Honda have strongly denied.
However Ross Brawn has maintained that he is happy with the current driver pairing and the reason for Honda s poor season was not down to the drivers.
“Rubens has one year remaining of his contract,†Brawn said to Formula One s official website. “I think the past year was very difficult to judge either driver because of the problems with the car.
“Personally I think there is no reason not to continue with them as both have proven that they can win races and they are both on very high standards. I don t have any concerns about the drivers there are much bigger challenges for the team overall and for me that the drivers.â€
Brawn has worked with Barrichello in the past at Ferrari, however he has yet to work closely with British driver Jenson Button.
“I am very much looking forward to working with Jenson. I have never worked with him before. He always impressed me from a distance. He has a nice reputation in the team the people like him here. So it is up to us to provide both with adequate material.â€
