De Ferran: driver tension is good

With an increasing focus on what will likely be an intense rivalry between his team's new line-up, de Ferran has insisted that he would love to have the problem of dealing with tension between the two men - because it will indicate the team are competitive.

"I think that having a very competitive pair fighting for the top positions is a problem any team would like to have," said de Ferran at the Autosport International Show.

"A lot has been said about trying to deal with competitive drivers and so forth, but it is like paying tax. You only pay tax if you make money, and making money is a good thing.

"That problem (of tension between the drivers) will only arrive if we are competitive and up at the front, fighting for wins and podiums. That is a problem I would love to have."

And de Ferran has made it clear that there will be no team orders between the two drivers and that both will be guaranteed an equal opportunity at each race.

"There will be no clear number one and number two drivers," he added. "We will support both drivers with equipment and personnel to the same extent and to the best of our ability.

"There will be none of this, 'you will win the race and you will not.' It will be every man for himself and the only order will be for them not to take each other off the track. Healthy competition between the two will help us move forwards."

De Ferran is in no doubt that Barrichello and Button are the right men to help lead Honda's F1 efforts.

"Rubens will bring a lot to the team," he explained. "We not only consider him to be a very fast driver, and that is really the primary reason we signed him. But he is a very experienced driver who knows a lot about the sport and cars, so he should help us on many counts.

Speaking about Button, de Ferran added: "I tell you, before I came here to work in F1 with Honda Racing, I was always an admirer of Jenson. You can see his fine touch on the steering wheel, you see it on the television camera, and just watching him racing, you see this guy is good.

"Now that I work with him and I can see him operating at close quarters I have became a real fan of his.

"Certainly he is a very unique talent, he is extremely fast, and some of the qualifying stuff he was able to do last year with a difficult car, I admit we didn't have a fantastic car, it was incredible. So he has got all the raw materials to go all the way."