Jenson Button has been told he will receive no help from team orders in his bid to claim a maiden world title.

It means the Briton must engage in a head‑to-head duel with Brawn GP team-mate Rubens Barrichello, whose emotional victory in the European Grand Prix at Valencia has pitched the Brazilian right into the title chase.

Having been out-qualified by Barrichello on Saturday, Button was easily out-paced in the race by his 37-year-old rival and he trailed home a distant seventh. That leaves him 18 points ahead of the Brazilian with a maximum of 60 still to be claimed in the remaining six rounds.

Barrichello insisted Button could be caught. “It is very, very much possible,” he said.

That view was supported by his chief engineer at Brawn GP, Jock Clear, who said: “Who is to say Rubens cannot go on to win the world championship now? He's on fire.”

Before Valencia, Button's closest pursuers were the Red Bull pairing of Mark Webber and Sebastian Vettel. Neither of them scored yesterday, but Red Bull are expected to make an immediate recovery in next Sunday's Belgian Grand Prix at Spa, where forecasted cooler temperatures should suit their cars more than the temperamental Brawn GPs.

However, that will not affect a determination within Brawn GP to give Barrichello an even chance against Button even though the distraction of an internal team fight could lend Red Bull an added advantage. Clear said: “There is no reason to call team orders at this stage. To be honest, you're not going to hold back a guy like Rubens.”

A tearful Barrichello dedicated his first win in nearly five years to Felipe Massa, the Ferrari ace who suffered a fractured skull when he was struck on his crash helmet by a heavy suspension unit that fell from his fellow Brazilian's car during qualifying for the Hungarian Grand Prix.

Massa, who won last year's race around the streets of Valencia, watched yesterday's Grand Prix from his home in Sao Paulo and he insisted Barrichello would have taken a 10th career victory even if Lewis Hamilton, who finished second, had not been slowed by a pit stop blunder.

Hamilton, who triumphed in Hungary, had looked set for back-to-back wins after leading away from pole position. But a misunderstanding over when to come in for a second stop cost the reigning world champion vital time as he was left waiting in the pit lane while his McLaren mechanics fetched new tyres.