F1 Standings Ahead of Spanish Grand Prix

Like a fox running before the hounds, the Brawn GP team know that their rivals are closing in to try to kill off their audacious assault on a drivers’ championship that Jenson Button leads by 12 points from Rubens Barrichello, his team-mate.

The first four races, in Australia, Malaysia, China and Bahrain on Sunday, have established Button as the favourite to succeed Lewis Hamilton, of McLaren Mercedes, as champion. With three wins and a third place, Button has proved the real deal and his car has yet to miss a beat.

But the hounds are speeding up as the Formula One circus arrives at the Circuit de Catalunya in Barcelona for the Spanish Grand Prix on May 10, the immaculate team lorries will be full of new parts for cars that have struggled to match the pace, not only of the Brawns but also the Toyotas and the Adrian Newey-designed Red Bulls.

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Brawn believes that he has the driver in Button to capture the title; it is now up to him and the team to keep the car at the front of the grid. “I’ve got no doubts about Jenson’s ability to win. The way he is driving, that part is taken care of,” he said. “It’s up to us to produce the performance in the car, do the pitstops, the strategies and make sure the car is reliable.” Times Online

The Toyota’s qualified first and second but costly strategy mistakes ended their podium challenge, can they go all the way as the F1 season heads to Europe?

Will Brawn stay dominant, or will Red Bull and Toyota come out on top in the battle of the early front-runners? And what about the old guard of McLaren and Ferrari, will they finally show their worth in Barcelona. Sky Sports

Pos Driver Team Points
1 Jenson Button Brawn-Mercedes 31
2 Rubens Barrichello Brawn-Mercedes 19
3 Sebastian Vettel RBR-Renault 18
4 Jarno Trulli Toyota 14.5
5 Timo Glock Toyota 12
6 Mark Webber RBR-Renault 9.5
7 Lewis Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes 9
8 Fernando Alonso Renault 5
9 Nick Heidfeld BMW Sauber 4
10 Heikki Kovalainen McLaren-Mercedes 4
11 Nico Rosberg Williams-Toyota 3.5
12 Kimi Räikkönen Ferrari 3
13 Sebastien Buemi STR-Ferrari 3
14 Sebastien Bourdais STR-Ferrari 1
15 Felipe Massa Ferrari 0
16 Adrian Sutil Force India-Mercedes 0
17 Nelsinho Piquet Renault 0
18 Giancarlo Fisichella Force India-Mercedes 0
19 Kazuki Nakajima Williams-Toyota 0
20 Robert Kubica BMW Sauber 0