Brawn confident of strong 2010 season

Having achieved the remarkable feat of winning both world titles on the back of a winter when the team did not even know if it would be in F1 at all, Brawn thinks that there is every reason to feel the outfit can do even better in some areas next year.

In particular, he feels with fairly static regulations, plus eradicating the compromises that had to be made to rush-fit the Mercedes-Benz engine this year, progress can be made for 2010.

"Well, we have a very good engine. That's important," said Brawn, when asked about what factors he felt would ensure the team remained competitive next year.

"I think next year's regulations are really an extension of this year's. We have no re-fuelling and some different tyres, but they are not so dramatically different.

"I have seen the new car, seen the progress we have made, particularly in aerodynamic performance. So I think we will be competitive, where we will be exactly nobody knows.

"We are making good progress for next year's car; the engine is being installed properly from the very beginning which is a big step forward. So I am quietly confident that we can be competitive next year. Whether we will be able to win races no one knows. But I think we will be pretty respectable."

Brawn believes the way that Brawn started the year so strongly, but Red Bull Racing finished it with a flourish, can be explained by the way both teams approached the season.

Red Bull's tight packaging around the rear and its pull-rod suspension configuration were not optimised for exploiting double-diffusers early on, but once the car was sorted it hit top-form - as Brawn struggled with the compromises it had to make to fit the Mercedes power-unit.

"It was a season of two halves," explained Brawn. "I think you have got our car which was probably on average the strongest car in the first half, and their car was probably the strongest in the second half. That's it really.

"I think some of the decisions they made in terms of the lay-out of the car that have given them an advantage now, were probably difficult to manage in the first part of the year. I think some of the compromises we had to make to fit the engine, which weren't apparent in the first half, are now starting to hurt us.

"The car is too heavy, the centre of gravity is too high, and there are things which are not good on the car which will be fixed for next year. You can't put an engine in a car in six weeks when it normally takes six months, without making some compromises."