Saturday: Brawn GP is experiencing difficult times!

For Brawn GP, today’s qualifying session was marred by Felipe Massa’s accident at the end of Q2. The Brazilian was hit by a part lost from Barrichello’s car. The entire team wishes him a speedy recovery but found it difficult to refocus for the rest of the qualifying. In the end, Button only qualified 8th while Barrichello will start in 13th position. A very poor start in the championship battle.

During Q1, both Brawn GP drivers qualified for Q2 easily, but they struggled much more afterward. Barrichello suffered from traffic and could not clock a good time, and even had to return to the pits after losing a part from the rear assembly of his car at the end of Q2. As for Button, he set his time under a yellow flag.

As a precautionary measure, the team changed Barrichello’s faulty component on Jenson Button’s car. After inspection and analysis by the race officials, Button was able to head out for Q3, setting a time with only 4 minutes left in the session. He went out overloaded with fuel, strategically, but could only manage one timed lap and positioned himself in 8th place.

Jenson Button – 17th and 8th:

« The car was pretty decent today even though I never had a perfect lap, getting caught in traffic or yellow flags. I thought we would be competitive in Q3, but we worked on the car which prevented me from doing what was planned. I went back on track with a full fuel load and could only do one timed lap when I was supposed to do four more. »

Regarding the tires, we were at the lower end of our operating window today. As a result, the car was not as balanced as in practice. Starting 8th is certainly not easy, especially from the dirty side of the track. We are studying our options and will do our best. Of course, our thoughts are with Massa.

Rubens Barrichello – 13th and 13th (12th after Massa’s withdrawal):

« We had high hopes for qualifying today, and I was confident we could have a good session. Unfortunately, I had an issue with the rear of my car and had to go back to the pit and abandon my fast lap. I got caught up in traffic from my first lap, and without that, I could have reached the top 10. Starting from here will be difficult tomorrow, especially on a track where overtaking is not easy… But on the other hand, I can choose my fuel load and will still try to score points. My position today is not important anyway. My thoughts are only with Felipe [Massa] and his family. I am very close to them and hope he will be okay and recover quickly! »

Ross Brawn – Director:

A really tough day today for the team, but we eagerly await good news from Felipe Massa. The qualifying was going well for both our drivers until Barrichello encountered a problem at the rear of the car. He couldn’t make it into Q3, and we had to change a part on Jenson [Button]’s car, which left him with only one chance to set a time in Q3.

Starting so far back on the grid after a good start to the weekend is frustrating. But we have two good strategies for our drivers, and we’ll try everything to score as many points as we can!