Barrichello hopes Brawn GP becomes 'family' affair

(AP)

The Brazilian Rubens Barrichello feels the newly-formed Brawn GP could harness the team spirit he enjoyed at Ferrari. Although eager to avoid openly criticising Honda, who pulled out of Formula One in early December and have now been replaced by the new Brawn GP team, Barrichello has revealed there were difficulties given the working practices of the Japanese team.

Barrichello is hoping Brawn GP, with former Ferrari technical guru Ross Brawn at the helm, will have more of a family feel to it as he experienced with the Maranello marque from 2000 to 2006.

Referring to another of his former teams, Stewart Grand Prix, when asked as to how different operating will be now without Honda, Barrichello replied: "Are we going to be like a small Stewart family working? It might be, a smaller team working together, not going through too many people to get an answer. It might work in our favour.

"Honda did brilliantly and I am sorry to see them go, but you have to say there is always a culture difference and a difficulty in the language. So it was tough. All I have wanted to see at the team is what I found at Ferrari – they were really good at winning together and losing together. The team is quite small now, so it could be like that, and that is what I am looking forward to working on, and I am sure Ross is in the same boat. That is what makes it a competitive F1 team."

Brawn confirmed to the team's 700-strong workforce in Brackley last Thursday they would be going racing this year. However, there will be job losses as Brawn GP addresses the cost cuts imposed on F1. Barrichello, who only last week knew his job was safe and that he would be given a new contract for this year, appreciates the cuts could have a major impact. "I don't know how many people will be told to go home, if any," added the 35-year-old, who tested the new car for the first time yesterday at the Circuit de Catalunya in Barcelona.

"Whenever you have something big and it shrinks, you want to keep the good ones. You might say 'OK, these two used to do two different jobs and we need to send one home and the one [remaining] will do both jobs'.

"This is a bad thing, definitely. You want the good people to do whatever they are good at. Ferrari always had people doing their jobs correctly."

Barrichello yesterday continued the good work by team-mate Jenson Button by recording the third fastest time in testing in Barcelona. The Brazilian was only bettered by Ferrari's Kimi Raikkonen and the Williams of Kazuki Nakajima.