BARCELONA, Spain — Brawn GP’s early season dominance has provided Formula One with an unlikely start to the season.
So far, only Red Bull seems to be able to offer Brawn GP serious competition, while F1 heavyweights Ferrari, McLaren, Renault and BMW Sauber are in the unfamiliar position of being also-rans.
Jenson Button won for the fourth time in five races on Sunday at the Spanish Grand Prix to lead Brawn to a 1-2 finish with Rubens Barrichello. Mark Webber was third ahead of Red Bull teammate Sebastian Vettel, the only non-Brawn driver to have won a race this season.
The power shift that has seen the former Honda outfit arrive unexpectedly at the pinnacle of F1 has left the circuit’s traditional powerhouses reduced to fighting for places outside the top three.
Renault’s Fernando Alonso, who won at the Circuit de Catalunya in 2006 on his way to his second straight drivers’ title, called Sunday’s fifth-place finish “a great thing” that “gives the morale a boost.”
Kimi Raikkonen, who won the championship in 2007, denied that Ferrari had lost its way even after another error-strewn weekend saw the Finn retire early.
“We are the same people who over the past two years have won three world titles (including the constructors championship) out of the four available,” said Raikkonen, who hasn’t won a race in more than a year.
Reigning world champion Lewis Hamilton could only manage 14th place in Spain and has struggled to get the most out of a clearly uncompetitive car.
“It’s just a shame they haven’t given me a car to defend the championship with,” Hamilton said. “The car is that bad. I’m driving the socks off it. There’s just no hope.”
Button knows all about languishing at the back of the grid after finishing 18th last season, but barring a dramatic improvement from other teams, he looks set to join Alonso, Raikkonen and Hamilton as a champion.
“When it is going well, it goes well, doesn’t it,” said the Briton, who holds a 14-point advantage over Barrichello in the standings. “It was the same last year. When it was going bad, it went really bad. I do feel like I am on top of the world at the moment.”
Button believes Brawn GP’s position at the front also means it can test new parts with less pressure compared to Ferrari or McLaren, which need to deliver rapid improvement.
Hamilton and Alonso trail Button by 32 points, while Ferrari’s Raikkonen and Felipe Massa are both 38 back. Brawn GP holds a 62 point advantage over Ferrari in the constructors’ standings.
“They’ve had tough years before, maybe not quite as tough, but they will definitely bounce back. They’re very strong teams,” Button said.
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