Budapest - The battle for the Formula One drivers' championship continues this weekend with the main protagonists from Brawn GP and Red Bull hoping for different weather conditions at the Hungarian Grand Prix at Budapest's Hungaroring. While Jenson Button was able to win six of the opening seven races in his Brawn GP to build up a substantial lead in the standings early on, Red Bull have fought back strongly in the cooler European temperatures, with Sebastian Vettel and Mark Webber celebrating respective victories in Britain and Germany.
However, despite Red Bull's two race victories in a row and three for the season, Button still holds a comfortable lead in the standings after nine races with 68 points. Vettel sits second with 47, Webber has 45.5 followed by Button's teammate Rubens Barrichello with 44 points.
"The last two races at Silverstone and the Nuerburgring have been frustrating for the team as we have not been able to achieve the full potential of our car at the same time as our competitors have taken a good step forward," admitted Brawn GP team principal Ross Brawn.
"Our focus now is to maximise the performance that we know is in the car whilst continuing to develop improvements which will maintain our championship challenge. We have a significant aerodynamic upgrade for this race which will bring performance gains in efficiency, downforce and aero balance but we face a fierce battle and we must continue to improve for the rest of the season."
Button will now be looking to put the two successive defeats behind him, helped by the higher temperatures normally prevalent in Hungary.
Another defeat to Vettel or Webber could indicate that the Red Bulls are now simply faster, and together with the constantly improving McLaren-Mercedes and Ferrari cars, could lead to Button struggling even for a podium finish.
"Hungary is always one of my favourite races and even more so this year as it should finally be a return to some real summer temperatures," said Button, who celebrated his first F1 race here three years ago.
Ive been at home in Monaco for the past week concentrating on my training but I know that the guys at the factory and at Mercedes-Benz have been working really hard on our latest upgrade package and I just can't wait to get back in the car."
Vettel has made up 11 points on Button in the last two races and believes a good qualifying session could see him once again in a position to eat into the Briton's lead.
"The gap is very big but we are moving in the right direction," said the 22-year-old German. "Everyone is giving their all."
Teammate Webber is back in the title reckoning after his victory at the Nuerburgring and now lies just 1.5 points behind Vettel.
"There is no number one with us and both drivers will be treated equally," said Red Bull team principal Christian Horner.
Apart from the ongoing battle for the drivers' championship, Sunday's race also sees Jaime Alguersuari make his racing debut for Toro Rosso at the age of 19, making him Formula 1's youngest ever race driver.
The former Red Bull reserve driver and current reigning British Formula Three champion replaces Sebastien Bourdais for the rest of the season after the 30-year-old Frenchman was dropped by Toro Rosso last week.
