Friday: Brawn GP comfortable at night

Brawn seems really comfortable on the winding urban track of Singapore right from the first laps. The cars took the first two spots in the first session, with Rubens Barrichello ahead of Jenson Button.

The second session was less satisfactory in terms of performance for the Brackley team. Brawn GP is lagging by 5 to 9 tenths behind Sebastian Vettel’s Red Bull. Jenson Button, always cautious, was ahead of his teammate in this second session after the latter flirted with a barrier and lost all his confidence. Barrichello repeatedly asked his team, via radio, if his car had suffered from the incident. And although the team confirmed that his car was still fully operational, the Brazilian suddenly became less incisive in his driving and especially in his strong point, braking. But the weekend is far from over.

Jenson Button – 2nd and 5th:

« It’s great to be back in Singapore, and everyone is excited about the challenge of night driving and adjusting their work schedules. We have worked a lot on the settings and tire evaluation. It’s a very difficult event due to the heat and humidity. The nature of the circuit and the proximity of the walls require total concentration. The key is to maintain consistent lap times, and this is what we’ve focused on today. The car seems reasonably competitive, and with a bit more work tonight, we should be ready to continue well this weekend.

Rubens Barrichello – 1st and 11th:

The car seems to be performing very well here after the first practice sessions and we are satisfied with the work done today. Traffic slightly disrupted our program, especially during the second session, but everyone was in the same situation. We mainly focused on our race pace, and that is ultimately the most important thing to do, because the car must be well-balanced to be fast in the race. I am confident about finding the right settings for the rest of the weekend.

Ross Brawn – Team Principal:

After a successful start last year, Singapore once again proves to be a fantastic race venue. The entire team loves the unusual hours we work, and we adjust our weekend schedule to meet the particular demands of the night race. Seeing today’s track activity, we are pleased with the performance of both practice sessions. Both Jenson and Rubens feel confident with the car and the quality of their runs provided us with a wealth of data to study in the early hours of the morning. It’s a circuit that should suit our car, as long as we find the balance and the right settings for the qualifying. We therefore look forward to the rest of the weekend.