BRAWN TO BE WILD; Rubens: I love JB off the track but I hate him on it.

Byline: BYRON YOUNG

RUBENS BARRICHELLO admitted he and teammate Jenson Button have a love-hate relationship.

The Brazilian revealed they are good friends off the circuit but great rivals on it.

Barrichello was speaking after he finished second to the 29-yearold Brit at Melbourne's Albert Park on Sunday following a fumbled start.

The 36-year-old who drove for Ferrari and Jordan is determined to ensure there is no repeat of his years under the yoke of Michael Schumacher at Ferrari.

He was continually required to play second fiddle because the German had a better contract, but the competition between him and Button is entirely open. "We respect each other very much," said Barrichello. "But we both want to win.

"It is like we love each other away from the track, but we hate each other when we are driving. It is a common thing between drivers but the most important thing is that it is fair and honest." In his 17th season in Formula One the most experienced man in the sport revealed one thing that's music to Button's ears.

"We have a title-winning car," he said. "The only thing is that it is a much smaller team - well prepared, but with only a couple of tests behind us. So it is very early to say we have everything in hand." Button and his all-conquering Brawn team have four-races to establish themselves as top dogs in the title race. Rival outfits have started a multi-million pound technical arms race to get themselves back in the reckoning.

McLaren boss Martin Whitmarsh has rubbished suggestions Brawn are underdogs.

He is convinced Button is driving one of the best developed and most expensive cars in grand prix history thanks to 16 months of development.

While some believe the Aussie GP winners are just too hot to catch this side of Christmas, others are convinced there is everything to play for.

Renault boss Flavio Briatore, who led his team to two victories last year, said they will NOT have significant aerodynamic improvements to match Brawn's controversial diffuser until Barcelona on May 10.

Ferrari ace Felipe Massa said both Brawn and Red Bull are in a different league. And McLaren chief Whitmarsh, who leads the best equipped and most determined outfit, said his No.1 driver Lewis Hamilton won't be competitive before the Chinese Grand Prix in a month's time.

"The reality is Brawn have a much more developed car, it is very clear," said Whitmarsh.

"They openly admit they have been developing the car for 16 months with huge resources from Honda. We were doing other things like winning world championships. We are not going to catch them in the next few races, that is for sure.

"Currently they have 700 people on their books so numerically they are probably the largest chassis team in F1. I acknowledge that in the future they might be a small team, but what we see today is the consequence of a huge, huge effort."

You moved over for Schu, will you do it for Jenson?

TEAM orders forced Rubens Barrichello to sacrifice victory at the Austrian Grand Prix in May 2002, so what price handing Jenson Button a win in Malaysia? The Brazilian was leading going into the final bend but sparked a storm when he pulled over to allow Michael Schumacher to win the race.