Piquet not surprised by Brawn form

Brawn GP has been one of the sensations of pre-season testing - dominating the timesheets despite having faced a winter unsure if it would even make the grid.

And although few would have predicted weeks ago that Brawn would be in contention for victory, Piquet says that the team's current strong form is simply the end result of the early development push the outfit made on its 2009 car.

"They have been developing the car for a year now, so I think it is natural and normal that they have been going quick," Piquet told AUTOSPORT about the form of Brawn GP.

"They were the first ones to begin developing the [2009] car, and they have done a good job. So it is going to be a tough team to beat. Brawn is quick, Ferrari is quick - and apart from that it is hard to say who else is going to be up there."

Piquet believes that with teams only beginning to get to grips with their 2009 contenders, and car upgrades still delivering a lot of performance, there is nothing certain about where his Renault team will stand.

"It is difficult to say. It is all going to be all a bit of a mystery how quick we are," he explained. "I really have no idea if we are going to right up there at the front or fighting in the midfield. Hopefully the car will be good."

He added: "To be honest, it gets better and better. But for every other team it gets better and better too. The secret is to get better than the other teams quicker, and that is not an easy task.

"I know a lot of teams are going to come with upgrades here, and at the moment when you upgrade the car you get quite big differences because we are quite new in this phase of the regulations.

"It means every change is quite big. So it is still going to be a bit of a mystery. We can think we are good and then we can arrive here and not be quick. Let's see, and hopefully we will be okay."

Piquet has said he is also feeling more ready for F1, having now had a full season behind him.

"I think [I am] much more relaxed," he said. "It is just one more race now, it is not like the 'beginning' you know. After 18 races now, it is just one more weekend where I know how the whole thing works and I know it is going to be much easier."