Formula One / Ralph Ellis / 12 May 2009 / Leave a comment

It's been a dream start to the season for his team but Ross Brawn is about to learn that success brings its own problems, says Ralph Ellis.

It must have been the longest winter of Ross Brawn's life. Just imagine the dilemma. You've read through the new rules, designed the double diffuser which will turn Honda's painfully slow car into a zooming Grand Prix thoroughbred, and then the owners announce they are pulling the plug.

Now how did the advert go? "Hate something, change something, make something better . . . " and that's exactly what Brawn did as he did the deal to buy out the car he'd created and put Jenson Button at the front of the grid. And so far it's all been a dream with Button winning races and already [1.65] to be world champion driver, and the team even shorter at [1.41] for the constructors' championship.

But Brawn is about to discover that success brings its own problems - and not least the jealousies of two drivers. Remember how Lewis Hamilton in his debut season feuded with Fernando Alonso over who got the best treatment from McLaren? The first signs are there of the same problem between Button and his stablemate Rubens Barrichello.

It started in Spain where Barrichello looked on course for his first win of the season before Brawn mysteriously changed strategies to bring him in for a third pit stop while Button stayed out on the track to take the lead. Having suggested laying Button for the race, I wasn't happy. Barrichello was even less pleased and threatened to quit.

"I got to the pits and I told Ross Brawn that if he did anything to let Jenson win the race, I would hang up my boots and go home," Barrichello has told Radio Jovem Pan back in Brazil. "I don't need this, I'm better than this.

"The fact is that I left Ferrari for those reasons. My family created me as an honest person and I'm proud of that. If I had to do anything outside the rules to win, I would rather not do it. I would finish second."

Brawn is insisting it was just bad luck for him, and there are no team orders in place. But it's tough to believe him. He still needs to bring another major investor, or manufacturer, on board for next season to make the team viable and it's pretty obvious that having the champion driver on board will give the glamour to make that easier. Keeping Button winning races while Barrichello piles up the supporting points makes sense.

Betfair's odds reflect that belief. Given that the two men are driving similar cars, there's no other reason for Button to be odds on for the drivers' championship and Barrichello out at [15.0]. Even Lewis Hamilton, driving the Formula One equivalent of a beaten up Ford Escort, is only [22.0]. (Incidentally the tip to lay him for a podium finish in Barcelona did pay handsomely, even if laying Button for the race didn't!)

Five things you might not know about Rubens Barrichello

1. Born in Sao Paulo in 1972, his father and grandfather were both also called Rubens - he shares his dad's birthday which is May 23

2. He was just 18 when he moved to Europe to race in Formula Vauxhall Lotus racing - he had won five karting titles in Brazil

3. He's raced for Jordan, Stewart, Ferrari and Honda before the Brawn team was formed this year

4. He didn't score a single point for Honda in 2007, but the year after surpassed Riccardo Patrese's record of 256 for the most Grand Prix starts set in 1993

5. He is the only driver on the current circuit who competed against Ayrton Senna and Alain Prost