Brawn: Faulty fuel rig cost Honda second

The Brazilian's strategy had been to run to the end of the race when he made his second pitstop for extreme wet tyres. But Barrichello did not take on enough fuel and was forced to give up second position and stop again.

But Brawn paid tribute to the 36-year-old, after an against-the-odds drive from 16th on the grid that brought the team its first podium finish since Jenson Button's third place in the 2006 Brazilian GP.

"Rubens had a great race," Brawn told UK broadcaster ITV. "He really pushed when he had to, and the middle of the race was fantastic. It was a bit like old days. The team did a great job as well. Some great calls during the race and we had the right tyres at the right time.

"We had a problem with the fuel rig which really probably cost us second place, so that's frustrating, but we shouldn't be too greedy."

Brawn added that he had been encouraged by the team's ability to strategise a constantly-changing race, which he said bode well for the future.

"We don't have the equipment at the moment, we don't have the car we need, but if we can work like this when we do get the car we need then we are going to be able to compete.

"We didn't have equal pace with other cars at the same time, we didn't look that special. But I think when we got on the deep groove wets at the right time, we really took off."

Brawn also paid tribute to Lewis Hamilton, who he felt had driven brilliantly when the track was at its wettest in the last third of the race.

"What was impressive was Lewis's performance in that part of the race, because he was on intermediates, and I don't know how he did it because the rest of them were 10secs off," he said.