Brawn Dismisses Team Orders in Spanish GP

Ross Brawn denied all rumors suggesting the podium in Barcelona was the result of team orders during the Sunday race. The British team decided to switch to a 2-pit strategy for Jenson Button – and leave Rubens Barrichello with less fuel for a 3-pit stop race – which led to the British driver winning the race some 13 seconds ahead of his teammate.

According to Brawn, Rubens can only blame himself for not winning the race, as his lap times in the penultimate stint of the race were significantly poorer than expected. It turned out Barrichello was doing worst on low fuel than Button on more fuel, and the loss of time eventually cost him a potential win this season.

“Listening to what was going on there was huge determination – firstly for Jenson to make the gap, and then on Rubens' side of the garage with a bit of frustration at the end that they didn't make it happen. If you look at the lap times on the tires and the fuel, there was a period of the race where he was a lot slower than expected. And that's what cost him the race because Jenson on more fuel was quicker,” said Brawn.

Neither Barrichello, nor the team got to the bottom of what exactly caused the poor laps before his last pit stop, as the problem is still investigated by the mechanics. When asked about it, the F1 veteran avoided to point any fingers, but admitted it was the sudden loss of performance and not the pit strategy that prevented him from winning.

“My third set of tires was not good, I don't know if something was broken on car. So I couldn't keep the pace up, and from then on it was a struggle to keep the car on the track and a relief to come second. I'm disappointed because I didn't win the race because I felt I had it in the bag today, but it's still great for the team,” said Barrichello after the race.