Ross Brawn has confirmed that the tyre warming issues surrounding his team's cars from the middle part of the season has returned again at the Spa-Francorchamps circuit, after a poor qualifying session for both of his cars.
While Rubens Barrichello managed 4th on the grid for today's Belgian Grand Prix, he did so with the lightest fuel load of any of the top ten, even the pole-sitting Force India of Giancarlo Fisichella. Championship leader Jenson Button, meanwhile, was eliminated in Q2 during yesterday's session, and will line up 14th.
Brawn has confirmed that the BGP001's tyre "curse" is to blame for their poor performance, which will be a blow to the title-chasing team after the early talk before the weekend being that they had managed to work out what was causing their problems.
Since the British GP at Silverstone, the Brawn drivers have complained about being unable to get enough heat into their Bridgestone tyres to work properly during qualifying and the race, and Brawn says that their problems in qualifying show that the team still has much to do in order to cure the issues.
"It was the curse of the tyre temperatures again," Brawn lamented when asked about the team's qualifying session, "We were struggling to get the tyres to work, and obviously those teams that managed to get the tyres to work made a very good step.
"With Jenson particularly, we really struggled with the tyres again. On Friday it didn't look too bad, but we just slipped off a little with tyre temperature. Our curse has slightly returned - not as bad as it could have been. On fuel, with a longer run it's not bad. For qualifying we struggled."
When asked about Jenson Button's recent problems in matching the pace of his title rival and team mate Barrichello, Brawn blamed the Brit's smoother driving style for hindering his ability to cope with the lack of grip from the cold tyres.
"He's inherently quieter on the tyres," he mused oddly, "Normally that's an advantage but in these circumstances he struggles a bit more. He's quite a smooth, gentle driver which is normally a benefit. But when we are on the edge of getting the tyres to work, he seems to struggle a bit more.
"I think that it is just using the tyres. The approach of how you use them and getting the tyres to work in these circumstances. Perhaps it's no accident that four of the oldest, most experienced, drivers in F1 are at the front of the grid."
Despite all their problems, Brawn is still optimistic that Barrichello can deliver a good race result, even though he will be hindered by his weak pit stop strategy.
"We're pretty light on fuel to try and compensate," he pointed out, "But Rubens is pretty good at starts and he doesn't really have any KERS cars around him this time, so if he can make one or two places on the start he'll have a very strong race.
"The middle period, which will almost certainly be on the hard tyre, he will be very strong. The start and the middle part of the race will be crucial."
Barrichello will be aware that with Button looking set to struggle to pick up any points, today's race represents a real chance to close up the 18 point deficit between the two in the drivers championship.
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