Brawn GP drivers are not favorites in Sepang

The current leader of the Formula 1 World Championship, Jenson Button, believes that his team Brawn GP is not the team to beat this weekend in Malaysia, for the second race of the 2009 season. The Brit sees Ferrari as a favorite.

Kimi Räikkönen and Felipe Massa set the best times in Free Practice 2 yesterday, and this morning, the F60s were still well placed. According to Button, who secured pole position last Saturday in Australia, Ferrari should be feared, particularly: « If you look at the times over relatively long fuel runs, you can see that the Ferraris are particularly fast, followed by the Red Bulls. Ferrari is really faster than expected here, they are very competitive, and I don’t know if we can compete with them this weekend… let’s wait and see. »

« We have much more competition. For my part, I have not yet found the best balance, but we are generally on a very good pace. »

Button also insisted that a Grand Prix is not only won in qualifying: « If you ask me for my favorite, I say Ferrari, and that we are not the best. Some will say I’m crazy, but you have to look at the race, and there, the Ferraris are very strong. We are better in qualifying. »

Another point leads the 29-year-old Englishman to consider Ferrari as the best team of the weekend: the KERS. The kinetic energy recovery system is a significant advantage in the long straights of Sepang, and Ferrari is one of the few teams to be performing well and to have installed it.

« We can’t compete with the cars having KERS on the straight lines, » continued Button. « I was behind [Fernando] Alonso here during practice, and he literally dropped me on the straights. »