Both Ross Brawn and Jenson Button are looking forward to the season opening race, despite the ongoing (and dull) diffuser row, though neither are allowing themselves to confirm the team's position as pre-race favourites.
Team owner Brawn admitted that the diffuser debate had been a distraction for the newly-branded team ahead of the opening race, and stated his relief that the protests had been rejected by the race stewards in Melbourne. Despite the Brawn team being installed as outright favourites for victory in the opening race of the season, he remained coy when asked about the team's chances. I don't know where we will be," he insisted to Autosport, adding that "It is nice to get it [the diffuser issue] out of the way because it has been a fairly big distraction over the last 24 hours.
"So there has been a little bit of an awkward period, and hopefully we can now focus on getting the best out of the car over the next few days."
When pushed about the relative position of his outfit, he said that "I've genuinely got no idea. We were very pleased with the pace in testing. The drivers are very enthusiastic about the car, it seems to work well. But you never know until you get to a race."
Meanwhile, Jenson Button echoed his team owner's sentiments, refusing to admit that they start the season in the strongest position, but confirmed that he is plenty happy with his new car, thank you very much.
"We don't know how competitive it [the car] is, but for me, all I know is that it's a great car to drive and I feel that I can really work with it and the changes that I make can make a difference.
"It's a nice car to drive, really good to drive and I feel that I can really push it to the limit so as far as the feeling goes, it's good."
Meanwhile, there was further good news for the Brawn GP side on the eve of the opening race, as they announced their first major sponsorship deal had been signed with Richard Branson's Virgin Group.
The deal will be officially confirmed in Melbourne on Friday.
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