Ross Brawn insists Jenson Button's sterling pace at the wheel of the new BGP001 on Monday was genuine.

Despite the Brackley-based team sitting out most of the winter amid uncertainty about its future, the rebranded 'Brawn GP' car had heads turning at Barcelona as it went against every other rival car.

Button topped the morning session with the Mercedes-powered machine and was bettered only by the impressive BMW, Ferrari and Toyota by close of play at the Spanish venue.

But was the pace genuine or had the team drained the fuel tanks, possibly in a bid to entice sponsors?

"If everyone knew how much fuel we had on board, they would be surprised," Brawn told Auto Motor und Sport, who said the Briton was 'smiling' as he gave his answer.

"Even our engine partner Mercedes didn't believe it when we told them," he added.

Long before team owner Honda announced its departure from the sport, Brawn and his team colleagues were predicting a strong 2009 for what was intended to be the RA109 car.

"On the basis of our simulations, we knew what lap times this car would do theoretically at Jerez, Bahrain and Barcelona. When we saw the times of the competition, we were surprised they were not quicker," Brawn revealed.

Most teams wrap up their 2009 pre-season programmes this week, but Brawn GP will conduct a final three days of testing at Jerez next week.

Source: GMM
© CAPSIS International

 

Yes. I agree. It was a genuine pre-season testing time.

Yawn . . .

 

^^^^

Always the cynic Dana

 

So, they're keeping the fuel load secret, but implying it is more than people are guessing, but are saying they expected to run faster than they did?

Is this an episode of Lost? I'm confused...

 

Genuine for the last row!!

 

My head hurts. As Dana as said before, it's a non-issue. It's not like Button will be battling Hamilton for the WDC title at the end of the season... I'd love to eat my words if that actually happened though!

 

I love Ross Brawn and I admire Jense, too. I'd be really happy if they did well this season...

 

I believe Ross Brawn is being genuine. I wouldn't underestimate him, considering his turnaround that he had at Ferrari. Are they going to be fighting for podiums? Probably not. But I can definitely see them being midpack and fighting for points each race. What's to his advantage is that even with their constrained budget, the cost cutting measures are helping them out.