Brawn happy with Abu Dhabi showdown

"As long as it is between our two drivers I would be very happy. That's the key element," said Brawn after qualifying for the Brazilian Grand Prix.

"It would be fantastic if it went to Abu Dhabi between Jenson and Rubens I think that would make a fantastic final to the season."

He added: "Let's hope we can go in to the last race with our two drivers fighting for the championship, I think that would be a fitting finale to the season."

Rubens Barrichello qualified on pole position on Saturday while team-mate Jenson Button suffered a big blow to his chances of wrapping up the title at Interlagos after finishing down in 14th position.

Barrichello is 14 points behind Button in the standings, having outscored his British team-mate in four of the last five races.

Brawn reckons things are now going Barrichello's way following a very strong start to the season from Button, but says the Brazilian was never far from the Briton's pace.

"He wasn't that far behind in the first half, some races just didn't go well for him," Brawn added. "What I saw in the first half of the season was that there were occasions in the middle of the race when he didn't have the pace.

"What I've seen in the second half, as we saw in Valencia and Monza, he has now got the pace in the middle of the race and that is where he seems to have changed. Now whether that is because we are finding better set-ups or what, I don't know.

"There is no single thing that you can say made a difference. He changed the brake material that he was using during the year, which we think probably helped. Because the one he was using was a bit too aggressive so this calmed things down a bit, which may have helped in.

"I think it's just a fine balance with both drivers in the team and it's swinging a bit more towards Rubens at the moment."

Brawn admitted Button is facing a difficult race tomorrow starting from so far down.

"There is a risk. Jenson is pretty experienced and he knows he is going to have to be sensible. But there is nothing we can do about that. It is the same risk that Sebastian faces as well. So he has got the same problem.

"I'm not sure that Liuzzi will make it to the grid so therefore you have got Jenson and Sebastian [Vettel] next to each other trying to find their way through the lesser experienced drivers."

And the team boss insisted he had no problems with the rivalry between his drivers and their staff.

"It's up to me to control that," he said when asked about Barrichello's race engineer Jock Clear's jubilant reaction at the Brazilian's pole.

"We all know Jock gets pretty excited, but Shov [Andrew Shovlin, Button's race engineer] gets on with it in his own quiet way. Jenson's engineer is just as competitive, and perhaps not as demonstrative in the way he approaches things.

"But no, there is a natural competition between both sides of the garage and it starts with the drivers and goes through members of the team.

"But in the end they have all got to do what is in the best interests of the team, and they know that. It's good to see some enthusiasm."