Jenson Button still wary of big guns

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Jenson Button is refusing to write off Formula One's big boys just yet as he remains convinced their time will come this season.

Ferrari, McLaren and BMW Sauber have so far mustered a meagre 25 points between them after five grands prix, still a whopping 43 points shy of the total amassed by the flying Brawns.

As each race approaches, there is expectation last season's front-running trio will finally step up to the plate and bring an end to the woes they have endured.

Sunday's Spanish Grand Prix should have been the time when Ferrari and BMW Sauber in particular underlined their strength in depth and their resources.

The Prancing Horse marque kicked briefly into life, but errors and reliability again undermined their weekend, leaving under-pressure team principal Stefano Domenicali facing more questions rather than delivering answers.

Instead, it was Ross Brawn's team who proved their early-season form is here to stay, and they are title challengers to be feared and respected.

Button, who made it four wins out of five with his latest victory at the Circuit de Catalunya, is convinced the top trio will ride the storm.

Assessing their form, Button said: "It's quite strange.

"At the first race BMW were competitive. You could say some of it was down to their strategy with the tyres, but they did a good job.

"In Bahrain, McLaren were surprisingly quick, the same with Ferrari in Barcelona in qualifying. They've had good races, but they just haven't had the consistency.

"When you've started so far back compared to the competition, you're throwing things at the car.

"I'm sure they're putting lots of new parts on the car to improve it. Some might not work, some probably do work.

"It's a much easier position for us, obviously, at the front. We can really test the parts and make sure they are an improvement before we put them on.

"Whereas Ferrari and McLaren need to put as much performance on the car as possible.

"But they're both great teams and they've both achieved so much in the past, as we all know.

"They've had tough years before, maybe not quite as tough, but they will definitely bounce back.

"They're very strong teams, and we'll see them being competitive throughout the year."

For now, it is Red Bull Racing who pose the strongest threat to the Brawn supremacy, and Button's hopes of becoming world champion.

Christian Horner's team are 29.5 points adrift, but at least kept up the pressure in Barcelona with Mark Webber and Sebastian Vettel finishing third and fourth.

At this stage it is very much a Brawn versus Red Bull battle, with Brawn acknowledging that as he said: "It looks that way doesn't it.

"They've a very strong team, a good group of people, good drivers, so it looks to me at the moment they're the main challenge to us.

"Other teams will come and go during the season, but in terms of a long-term challenge, then Red Bull look very strong.

"They are consistently good, whereas other teams are a little less consistent at the moment."