Saturday: Brawn GP lying in wait for the race

Freed from any pressure following the acquisition of the world champion titles for drivers and constructors in Brazil, Ross Brawn’s team wants to finish the season on a high note with a good result in Abu Dhabi. The car is comfortable on the Yas Marina circuit but was ultimately outpaced by Red Bull and Lewis Hamilton’s McLaren.

The drivers have always been on the right pace since the start of the weekend, Rubens Barrichello secures the 4th position on the grid while his world champion teammate, who experienced vibration problems in Q3, takes the 5th fastest time. The Briton regrets not qualifying higher but promises to fight: he will be able to take advantage of starting on the good side of this new dusty track.

Rubens Barrichello – 3rd and 4th:

«It was a good qualifying session for us today and I’m quite happy with the 4th position and what we achieved. The car is still very competitive, but the Red Bull and McLaren seem to be ahead of us here. It was a real challenge to have the right setup all weekend because the sessions take place in different track and ambient conditions. The car seemed to improve towards the end of the day with the dropping temperatures, so we can hope the track comes back to us tomorrow. It’s very close with Sebastian for second place in the championship and I’ll be going all out for the best result.

Jenson Button – 1st and 5th:

The car performed well here all weekend, and the first two sessions went well in qualifying today. Unfortunately, in Q3 when we were running with the fuel load and new tires, I started to experience significant vibrations every time I touched the brakes, which shook the steering wheel. On a circuit with such slow corners, the vibrations create understeer and make the car difficult to drive. It’s frustrating because we had the potential for a better performance today, and we should have been fighting for the front row behind Lewis. Fortunately, we can solve the problem before the race, and I’m looking forward to a good battle tomorrow.

Ross Brawn – team director:

We arrived at the qualifying session in good form tonight, having confirmed some of our conclusions on tire choice during the free practice this afternoon. The qualifying hour went according to our plans in Q1 and Q2, although we faced difficulties, like many others, with traffic preventing us from achieving clear laps when the tires were at their best. Unfortunately, in Q3, Jenson suffered from significant vibrations on his last set of tires, which we are investigating, and it compromised his performance. However, 4th on the grid for Rubens and 5th place for Jenson is a good result. We will be in good shape for the race tomorrow, and we are looking forward to taking on this challenge of ending the season with a good result.