Friday will be day of reckoning – Button

Jenson Button says Friday practice at Spa will take on an unusual significance for Brawn GP as the team should find out whether it has resolved the tyre temperature issues that have blunted its competitiveness in recent races.

The Brackley-based squad ended a run of Red Bull and McLaren wins with Rubens Barrichello’s victory in Valencia last Sunday, but the sweltering weather meant Brawn did not have the same difficulty in generating tyre temperature that it had experienced in earlier races.

The cooler conditions expected at Spa on Friday will enable Brawn to gauge the effectiveness of recent developments to its BGP 001.

“As a team it's a really important day for us,” Button told reporters on Thursday.

“It's warm today, but I don't think it's going to be as warm on the weekend. It’s expected to be about 19 to 20 degrees.

“That should be okay, plus this circuit has some high-speed corners and heavy braking, which is good for tyre temperature, and aggressive asphalt, which is good.

“And I think we know some of the reasons why we can't get tyre temp at cold circuits, and hopefully we've solved those issues.

“But we won't know until we drive the car tomorrow.”

Despite a poor race in Valencia that yielded only seventh place, Button extended his championship lead over Red Bull Racing drivers Mark Webber and Sebastian Vettel.

RBR is expected to have the car to beat for Spa’s high-speed layout, but Button thinks it is unlikely to be as dominant as it was at Silverstone two months ago – and he believes a strong showing by Brawn could just break its rival’s title challenge.

“It is an important day for sure, to know if we can challenge the Red Bulls on a circuit like this,” he said.

“If we can then I think the Red Bulls are in a difficult position. I don't think it's us so much.

“They didn't have a very good weekend last weekend – they didn't get any points as a team. We haven't been in that situation this year.

“I'm sure they come here more positive than the last race, but I'm sure they are not arriving here thinking it's going to be exactly like Silverstone.

“There's going to be a lot more competition for them. It's not going to be a walk in the park.”

While admitting his Valencia performance was below par, Button denied he was feeling any added pressure because he has not won since the Turkish Grand Prix in early June.

“I know how I feel. [Valencia] was frustrating in that if certain things had gone slightly different we would have a great weekend.

“It's the first bad weekend I've had this season, I would say.

"But I’m in the best position of the four front-runners, so I am not feeling any pressure.”

Source: ITV