Brawn keeping expectations in check

Ross Brawn is hoping for nothing more than respectability from a season that will undoubtedly be his most challenging in Formula One.

Brawn may concede to overcoming his “biggest hurdle” in salvaging from the ashes of Honda Racing the new Brawn GP team, and he may possess one of the most astute technical brains in the business.

But with the new season just three weeks away, and with the new car only due to take to the track for its first official outing in Barcelona on Monday, his problems have surely only just started.

Brawn is far from naive as he is expecting to encounter those problems, but he also feels in light of the staff retained, they can produce a creditable display over the course of the season.

“The biggest hurdle we faced was being in a position to race in Melbourne, and we will now be able to achieve that target,” said Brawn, who has confirmed he owns the team.

“Initially we may experience some reliability issues resulting from the lack of track testing, but we feel we have a good car and we hope that our performance will be respectable.