Top teams closely matched - Brawn

Mercedes believe they are a little behind the pace-setting Ferraris

By Sarah Holt BBC Sport at the Circuit de Catalunya

The top four teams are all closely matched on the eve of the new season, Mercedes team boss Ross Brawn says.

Speaking on the final day of pre-season testing on Sunday, Brawn said Mercedes, McLaren and Red Bull had all closed in on Ferrari in the last month.

"You saw in the beginning of testing that Ferrari were quite dominant but based on this test the teams are all pretty close," Brawn said.

The Englishman, 55, predicted "a super-hard battle" for the championship.

But Brawn, whose team won the drivers' and constructors' world championships last season in their former guise as Brawn, said he believed his team were still lagging behind their rivals.

"We're just a little bit off where we want to be but we're close enough to be within reach," Brawn said.

I don't think Michael [Schumacher] will be the issue; we've got to get the car a little bit better Ross Brawn Mercedes team boss

"We're getting some mileage done now and this morning you saw us have a go on lower fuel levels. We're not a long way off, we're just a few tenths off where we want to be.

"We have a new package for Bahrain and I hope that makes the difference.

"The balance is getting better, there's set-up and obviously efficiency counts. So the upgrade should bring predominantly an efficiency improvement and therefore a performance improvement."

Brawn did say, though, that he believed that the Mercedes was "there or thereabouts" in race trim, adding: "but of course in testing you don't really know what anyone else is doing.

"We are close enough to have a go at [winning races] but obviously we're not enjoying the same situation as we were last year."

Brawn shocked F1 by turning up at the final pre-season test in 2009 with a car that was nearly a second faster than anything else after a battle to survive following the withdrawal of former owner Honda.

Jenson Button, who has moved to McLaren for 2010, laid the foundations for his world title by winning six of the first seven races, but Brawn were then faced with a rearguard battle for the rest of the season.

Ferrari are believed to be the team to beat heading into the season

"There are probably only two or three times in my career that I started a season with the same performance advantage as I had last year," Brawn said.

"I just think it will be a super hard battle this year, bit by bit, whereas last year we had a huge advantage and it was a question of hanging on to it as long as we could."

Brawn said he was not yet able to say how his two drivers compared on performance.

Seven-time champion Michael Schumacher is returning to F1 with Mercedes this year after a three-year retirement, and is joined by German Nico Rosberg, who is yet to win a race but is highly rated by the car manufacturer's hierarchy.

Schumacher's return reforms the partnership with Brawn that brought him all seven of his world titles, the first two with Benetton and the rest with Ferrari.

"Michael has been very intense in terms of his approach," Brawn said.

"He's pretty close to what I remember. He stopped because he was tired of F1 but that's gone now. He's very passionate about racing again and is working hard with Nico to improve the car.

"He's got to start getting back into the groove but I don't think Michael will be the issue - we've got to get the car a little bit better.

606: DEBATE It really does look like Ferrari, McLaren and Red Bull, at least, are all at the same level Veris

"Until we get Michael and Nico on track at the same time it's impossible to judge between the two of them.

"They both look very good. You don't want to see either driver trailing behind and judging from the tests on different days they are close.

"I don't think they know where they are because conditions and tracks make comparisons different but I think both drivers are looking competitive."

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