Barrichello free to go for win

The Brazilian has qualified right behind McLaren duo Lewis Hamilton and Heikki Kovalainen but, with a heavier fuel load, has a good chance of gunning for the outright win.

And although Button is facing an ever-increasing threat from Red Bull Racing, Ross Brawn has made it clear that there will be no question of Barrichello being forced to protect his team-mate's title bid.

"He will be free to go for it," said Brawn. "He has a little bit more fuel than Jenson and he has been making some pretty good starts, as long as we have not had a problem with the car.

"Normally his poor starts have been down to a problem we've had with the car, but when we haven't had one he has been pretty good at the starts."

Brawn said he was encouraged by the return to form of his team in Valencia - where the warm temperatures have helped the BGP 001 get its tyres into their operating window.

"We have had a good car all weekend and, of course, there is this dilemma at the moment about how to handle the KERS cars," he explained. "If you are just in front of them and on the same fuel, then they do you at the start and then you are in trouble.

"We decided perhaps to go a little bit heavier and try and use that in the race to overcome the problem of KERS. Here they will have a good run into the first corner.

"But our car has been good all weekend. Jenson had a little bit of a messy run and didn't quite get it right so lost a few tenths. But it doesn't look too bad - I just hope we can stay out of trouble at the start and then build on it during the race."

Brawn feels that the key to the outcome of the European Grand Prix will be on looking after the tyres - with the hot temperatures and track surface punishing the rubber.

"Vettel is very quick clearly, but when you look at their car over long distance runs they seem to find it difficult to keep the tyres together," he said of his main title rival.

"And he is shorter than we are, less fuel, so Jenson and Vettel will be racing. Hopefully we can make our tyres last better and get him at the first pit stops.

"We need the race to run well for us and keep the tyres together. The race will be about making the tyres last. That is going to be the key to the race."

When asked whether the resurgence of McLaren is good or bad for Brawn GP's title chances, Brawn said: "If you looked at the qualifying results, not so long ago, it would have been the normal mix at the front of the grid.

"Now they have come in and stepped in. They clearly had something wrong with the car at the beginning of the year because they are a very good team and they had something amiss at the beginning.

"But they fixed it, progressed and are now going forward and progressing well. And KERS, when it is working properly, is worth three or four tenths. There is no doubt about it, so they have a great KERS system and now have a very good car.

"The ideal is that we finish in front of McLaren and they finish in front of Red Bull. That will be a help. If they finish in front of us it might not be so good, so it is difficult to predict whether they will be a help or a hindrance. They will certainly be influential but I am not sure what way yet."