Brawn surprised by Massa's strong form

Brawn, who worked with Massa when he was at Ferrari in 2006, said he had not expected the Brazilian to compare so well against Kimi Raikkonen in recent races following his difficult start to the season.

"I thought Kimi was going to dominate, I must confess," said Brawn when asked about the intra-team battle at Ferrari. "But I see Felipe fighting back very well.

"I think it is a great contest, but I must confess that I thought Kimi, from his world championship, would take strength and dominate.

"Felipe had a difficult first couple of races, but for me his performance this weekend has been exceptional and this is a track that he does seem to excel on.

"Kimi has looked out of sorts and had some strange events out on track. I couldn't work out that off he had (in qualifying) after he let someone overtake him. So he has not looked very comfortable this weekend."