As Ferrari and McLaren were involved in the title fight last year, they had to focus on their 2008-spec cars longer than the other teams, and that cost them the head start. However, Brawn believes it won't be long until the two “giants” will finally get things right on the new cars and start challenging for race wins.
“It is a reflection on what has gone on in the last year or two. With such a big change in regulations, McLaren and Ferrari had a championship to fight and I can understand that it was very difficult for them to say, 'look we'll stop pushing this year and put our effort into next year” said Brawn.
He revealed Honda worked solely on their 2009 package throughout last year, as it was very clear they would not stand a chance in 2008. And it was quite clear that, once you give a true mastermind more than a year to prepare an F1 car, it will certainly turn into a race-winning machinery.
“For us it wasn't even a clever decision, it was a very easy one - we didn't have a very good car so why waste time on it? For them it was a much more difficult decision, but they are both very strong and fantastic engineering companies, so they will sort it out,” added Brawn.
The former Ferrari-an argued that, hadn't it been for the completely new technical rules for the new season – all teams had to start from scratch when building the new cars – McLaren and Ferrari would have been as strong as ever.
“I think they are just paying the price for winning the championship last year. Because normally you develop a car and, if you are fighting for the championship, that same car goes forward into the next championship, so you don't lose things.”
“Everything they did last year for the championship was in the bin after the last race, so it was gone. We now have slick tires and new aerodynamics, so everything they did at the end of last year they could virtually throw away,” completed Brawn.
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