Brawn expecting to be strong in Malaysia

Ross Brawn

Honda surprised many in the paddock in Australia when Rubens Barrichello and Jenson Button showed much better pace than expected. Despite Button being knocked out at the first corner, and Barrichello's disqualification for passing a pitlane red light while running in the top-5, new team boss Ross Brawn expects the team to be competitive in Malaysia.

"Whilst the result was disappointing, we have to look at the positives," Brawn said. "Qualifying confirmed that we are in the midfield and a very strong race drive from Rubens showed that we have the potential to fight for points. It was pleasing to see that the aerodynamic upgrade from Jerez worked as expected and I think we have a good basis for the first three races until we can introduce the next development step for Spain."

"I think we can have a similarly strong weekend to the one we experienced in Melbourne," Brawn added about his team's prospects in Malaysia. "We have shown that we have a car with which to target the points and two drivers who are very determined to achieve that."