Interview with Ross Brawn

Q. Three race wins from four races. Has the start to the season gone a little better than you expected?

Ross Brawn: Yes, it has. Just getting to the first race was a huge challenge. We had a feeling the car would be competitive after what we were seeing from other car's performance, and that proved to be the case. But what we have seen in the races is really unbelievable.

Q. Were you expecting victory in Bahrain because after qualifying people were not so sure?

RB: It was a tough one today. It wasn't a given. Perhaps Australia was one we could only throw away, whereas here was one we had to win. My worry was really to look after the engine because in qualifying the engine was running too hot because of the cooling, and because it all got thrown together at the last minute we have underestimated the water cooling and since it was so hot on Saturday it was compromising the car.

They could only do one fast lap and then they had to cool the car down. And that is not great for using the tyres and getting into it. So qualifying was compromised. We felt we could cope with it in the race, and we did that. Friday had shown we could look after the tyres.

Q. So can that issue be corrected in Spain and do you have enough of an upgrade to keep yourself ahead of the field?

RB: Well, the cooling will not be a problem in the normal European climate, but there will be some races like Hungary in July/August and Abu Dhabi at the end of the year where there might be some problems. But we have got to do something about it, because when the engine runs that hot we lose some power. We will fix it, and we have a series for upgrades for Barcelona and beyond. We have to be optimistic. We have had no upgrades for the first four races, because there was nothing there. Getting to the first race was as much as we could manage and there was nothing in the cupboard. The process is starting again from the point at which we were able to buy the company and we got our programme well into the swing again and Barcelona will show us the benefit of getting it running again.

Q. How crucial was it to maximise your chances in the first four races, because you had the development advantage and now the others will catch up?

RB: Yes, it was fairly important. You always sneed to maximise your chances when you have a strong group performance. But it is also taking the points when you are not so on top of things, like we were in China. We were not fastest, and that is important as well because those points will be vital towards the end of the season. You need to strike when you've got the tools.

Q. Can you believe that you have enough budget/staff to win the title?

RB: I believe so, but I am not thinking that way. We are going out there to win races. We have got a great driver pairing and we've had a painful restructuring of the company, that is behind us now, and everyone can see what can be achieved. I am optimistic. We have some great drivers the rest is up to us.

Q. Where do you think you stand at the moment pace wise - are you the quickest?

RB: It is pretty close. There are two or three cars that are all quite similar, as we saw today. We had a good race strategy and that is what made the difference today.

Q. Do you feel they have developed more towards you in these races, or are they just getting more out of the cars?

RB: A bit of both. I think probably they are optimising the package they have and adding bits. Quite genuinely we've had nothing on the car since it was launched in Barcelona. Now is the time that we can start adding things and trying to improve.

Button - Red Bull now in front

Jenson Button believes the Red Bull Racing team has overtaken his Brawn squad in terms of performance, despite the Briton's victory in Bahrain.

Button scored his third win in four races in Bahrain, having started from fourth position after a difficult qualifying.

The Briton finished ahead of Chinese Grand Prix winner Sebastian Vettel, whose race was compromised after being stuck behind Lewis Hamilton in the early stages.

The Red Bull racer finished seven seconds behind Button.

Despite his win, the championship leader reckons Red Bull has already leapt ahead of Brawn.

"This one was very sweet because we didn't expect it in a way as Saturday was very poor in qualifying," said Button. "Everyone has caught up and I think red Bull has actually overtaken us, so this one is great and all credit to the guys - it has been a tough few weeks for all of us away from home.

"The parts on the car are getting very old now, so we can go back to Europe, freshen the parts up, add the aero kit to the car and hopefully make another step forward."

Team boss Ross Brawn says the Brackley-based squad will introduce updates from the start of the European season that should allow it to stay optimistic.

"We have a series for upgrades for Barcelona and beyond. We have to be optimistic. We have had no upgrades for the first four races, because there was nothing there."

He added: "Getting to the first race was as much as we could manage and there was nothing in the cupboard. The process is starting again from the point at which we were able to buy the company and we got our programme well into the swing again and Barcelona will show us the benefit of getting it running again."

Brawn was also adamant that his team has all the necessary resources to fight for the title in the long run, but the Briton admitted he's not thinking of that yet.

"I believe so, but I am not thinking that way," he said when asked if he thought his team has all the ingredients to win the title.

"We are going out there to win races. We have got a great driver pairing and we've had a painful restructuring of the company, that is behind us now, and everyone can see what can be achieved. I am optimistic. We have some great drivers the rest is up to us."

Raikkonen - Sixth place was not good enough

Kimi Raikkonen welcomed his first point-scoring finish of the season at the Bahrain Grand Prix, but the Finn admitted Ferrari's performance was still below par.

The Maranello squad avoided enduring its worst start to a Formula 1 season on Sunday thanks to the Raikkonen's sixth place finish.

The former world champion, however, finished over 40 seconds behind race winner Jenson Button ahead of the start of the European season next month.

Raikkonen said he had extracted the maximum from his car in today's race, but conceded that was not good enough for Ferrari's standards.

"I am happy to have picked up a few points but I can't be that pleased with our performance level," said Raikkonen. "I've been around long enough not to get very excited about a sixth place. We are well aware we have to improve.

"In theory, the new package we will have in Barcelona should see us make a good step forward, but we won't know just how big it will be compared to the others until we are on track in Spain.

"Today, we got the most out of the F60's current potential, even if I lost a bit of time in my final pitstop because of a problem with a part of the fairing on the left front wheel which cost me the chance of exiting pitlane ahead of Barrichello."

Hamilton has meet new Mclaren boss

Lewis Hamilton says he is embracing McLaren's future with fresh optimism after meeting his new 'boss' for the first time at the Bahrain Grand Prix.

The world champion has had a turbulent beginning to his title defence, which has included seeing his former mentor Ron Dennis choose to step back completely from the F1 team.

However, having committed his own future to McLaren in talks with team principal Martin Whitmarsh at the Chinese Grand Prix, Hamilton says he is now even more encouraged about the future after meeting new group chairman Richard Lapthorne in Bahrain.

"Ron has been a huge force in my life and we all owe him more than we could ever repay him for building this team," Hamilton said.

"It is an exciting time for him with his new focus, but also for everyone in the team.

"I met our new boss, Richard Lapthorne, in Bahrain. He seems like a great guy and he is clearly passionate about McLaren. Together with Martin and Norbert [Haug] I am confident we can go onto more things with this team in the future."