Ross Brawn believes it is only a matter of time before struggling champions Ferrari and McLaren get to grips with the 2009 regulations and catch up with the current pace-setters.
Brawn’s team has sensationally dominated the opening two grands prix, despite being on the brink of extinction until March following Honda’s withdrawal from F1 at the end of last year.
Meanwhile perennial title rivals Ferrari and McLaren have barely troubled the scorers, with a single point between them courtesy of Lewis Hamilton’s seventh place in the rain-shortened Malaysian GP last Sunday.
But rather than heralding a ‘new world order’ in F1, Brawn reckons the shake-up in the pecking order is simply a logical consequence of teams’ differing priorities last year.
“I think it's a reflection on what's gone on over the last year or two with such a big change in regulations,” he said at Sepang.
“McLaren and Ferrari had a championship to fight over and I can understand that it was very difficult for them to say 'we'll stop pushing this year and put all our effort into next year'.
“For us it was a very easy decision. It wasn't a clever decision, it was a very easy one.
“We didn't have a good car so why waste time on it?”
While his team has clearly stolen a march on the field, Brawn feels the intrinsic quality of Ferrari and McLaren means they will rapidly make up ground in the development race.
“They're both very strong and fantastic engineering companies, so I'm sure they will sort it out, but I think they're just paying the price for winning the championship last year,” he said.
“Because normally if you're fighting for a championship you develop a car and that same car goes forward into next year so you don't lose anything.
“Everything they did last year for the championship last year was in the bin after the last race. It was gone.
“We had slick tyres, new aerodynamics, so virtually everything they ended last year with they could throw away.”
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