Brawn ready in Germany

Ross Brawn is confident aerodynamic updates and a car that should suit the characteristics of the Nurburgring mean his championship-leading team responds strongly to Red Bull’s Silverstone dominance next weekend.

The Brackley squad had its stunning early-season form conclusively checked by its nearest title rival at its home race a fortnight ago, RBR cruising to a 1-2 finish while Rubens Barrichello and title leader Jenson Button finished in distant third and sixth places respectively.

But after blaming problems heating up its tyres in the cool conditions for the scale of its defeat at the high-speed venue, its team owner reckons its prospects are better at the slower Nurburgring circuit.

Brawn says the BGP 001 will feature development parts previously scheduled for the race, and further upgrades not used from qualifying onwards at Silverstone, leaving him confident it can rebound strongly and attempt to again increase its still massive points leads.

“The team is looking forward to returning to the race track at the German Grand Prix next weekend and the Nürburgring should be a good circuit for our car and play to its strengths," he said.



“We have several new aerodynamic parts from Silverstone which were not used in qualifying and the race due to the issues that we faced there, along with additional improvements scheduled for the Nürburgring, which should position us well going into the weekend.”

Brawn admits that having won six of the opening seven races, a nine-point haul from its home race was fairly underwhelming.


But the Briton believes the relative disappointment will see the team emerge stronger again.

“Whilst coming away with third and sixth placed finishes from Silverstone was still a good outcome from our home grand Prix, we would be the first to admit that the result did not meet our expectations," the team boss said.

“However we have always said that we would have a fight on our hands to maintain our excellent run of results at the start of the season and everyone at the factory and at Mercedes-Benz High Performance Engines in Brixworth is looking forward to that challenge.

“As a team, we have a good history of going away from a race, thinking about the outcome, identifying where we need to make improvements and then coming back stronger.”

Runaway championship leader Button retains a healthy 23-point lead over team-mate Rubens Barrichello, with a further two in hand over RBR’s Sebastian Vettel, going into the second half of the season despite by far the worst weekend of his campaign at Silverstone.

The Briton shares his team boss’s confidence that the Nurburgring will prove a happier hunting ground for the BGP 001, although he expects Red Bull to remain a big threat.

“The Nürburgring is a tricky circuit but there are two key characteristics which should be good for our car. It is a relatively slow circuit with a lot of medium-speed corners which are one of the strengths of the BGP 001,” Button said.

“With the extra week’s break, everyone at the factory and at Mercedes-Benz High Performance Engines has been working extremely hard in preparation for the German Grand Prix to get the best package for the race and we’re looking forward to showing what the car can do at the Nürburgring after a disappointing weekend by our standards at the British Grand Prix.

“My last stint at Silverstone showed that the pace of the car is really competitive so we’re confident that we can turn it around at this race. I’m sure we will see a really intense fight with our closest competitors and hopefully a great race for the fans.”

Barrichello, meanwhile, aims to build on his performance from Silverstone – where he beat Button in qualifying and the race for the first time in 2009 – at a German circuit that only his former Ferrari team-mate Michael Schumacher has scored more points than him at.

“I have always enjoyed racing at the Nürburgring and it provides a good challenge for the drivers,” said Barrichello, who has finished in the points there on 10 occasions.

“The layout and flow is nice which allows you to get into a rhythm and there are some interesting undulations and bumps to look out for.

“I won the race here back in 2002 so the circuit always holds some good memories for me.

“The weather can be a little unpredictable due to its location right in the Eifel Mountains but we’ll be hoping for some warmer temperatures than we saw at Silverstone for the last race.

“We haven’t raced here for a couple of years so it will be interesting to see how the circuit feels in a good car.”