Brawn Proud of Ferrari Fightback

Ferrari technical director Ross Brawn praised the fighting qualities of his team after the Italian squad helped Michael Schumacher to a record-breaking sixth world title and also secured a fifth straight constructors' crown.

Rubens Barrichello took victory in the Japanese Grand Prix at Suzuka and Schumacher came home eighth to pick up the single point he needed to be sure of the Drivers' Championship. The win marked Ferrari's third in successive to end a difficult season on a high and Brawn admitted afterwards that there were times when he doubted if the team would rediscover their form.

"We had a tough start and I think we were 16 points behind after the first few races," said Brawn. "We came back but then we had a dreadful period with Hockenheim, Hungary and then it was dream end to the season. It has been a tough year and there were periods in the year when we didn't know if we would get there.

"But in the last three races the guys just turned it around. It is very special. It is a beautiful team and a great group of people. I'm very proud to be part of it. It hasn't sunk in yet it is going to take a few hours."

Barrichello led the Suzuka race from start to finish to deny McLaren's Kimi Raikkonen the victory he needed to stand a chance of lifting a maiden world title, while Schumacher was caught up in a number of incidents.

It all kept Brawn on his toes and he added: "It was a tough race and you are doing the mental arithmetic all of the time. Rubens did a fantastic job. He did a great job and Michael made it entertaining as well.

"I think Michael's comment when he was driving around was that he figured Bernie (Ecclestone) couldn't have written a better script than today's race; he was only following orders from Bernie.

"We were mixing with people on the track we don't normally see, no disrespect, and it was tough. It just shows all through Formula One that every driver is good."