SILVERSTONE, UK 27 APRIL
TEST REPORT
The Honda Racing F1 Team has been hard at work on the test
track this week, completing a three-day programme at its home
circuit of Silverstone. After a detailed review of the problems
in Imola last weekend, the team is now focusing on the positives
from that race and improving on the step forward in race pace
that the RA106 car demonstrated.
Jenson Button, Rubens Barrichello and Anthony Davidson all
joined the team over the three days at Silverstone with the
test programme focusing on the usual chassis set-up and tyre
development work. In addition to this, the team has continued
to make progress with matching its clear qualifying pace to
improved race performance on a Sunday afternoon.
Jenson and Anthony began the test on Tuesday. Following a
heavy morning downpour, both drivers completed a wet tyre
programme before moving onto chassis set-up work once the
track had dried out. Jenson completed 59 laps, setting the
second fastest time of the day, with Anthony running for 65
laps.
Rubens joined the team on Wednesday. He spent the day working
through an intensive tyre programme, alongside an aero evaluation,
completing 109 laps. Jenson continued to work through the
set-up programme from Tuesday, in addition to a tyre evaluation
looking at options for the Spanish and British Grands Prix.
He completed 135 laps in total.
Anthony was back in the car on Thursday. He focused on tyre
work, completing longer runs on the best of Wednesday's options
and successfully completed his full test programme covering
an impressive 143 laps. Rubens concentrated on chassis work,
trying different set-ups, alongside an aero evaluation. He
had a gearbox problem in the early afternoon but went on to
complete 71 laps in total.
Jenson Button
"We've had a good couple of days testing at Silverstone
in preparation for the next few races. On my side, we've mostly
been concentrating on set-up work following the issues from
the last few races and we've been tyre testing with Michelin
to work on tailoring the tyres to our car. I would say it
has probably been one of our best tests this year, especially
my second day when I was able to achieve significant mileage.
We also did a lot of race distance work. In Imola we made
a good step forward on this front and I think we will see
that again at the Nurburgring."
Rubens Barrichello
"The team has been working extremely hard this week and
we are making progress on the set-up of the car. We managed
to cover a lot of mileage over the two days, despite today's
running being affected by a couple of minor issues. We spent
a lot of time today working on different set-ups and the car
was certainly getting better by the end of the day. We still
need to continue to work on this area but I'm positive that
we're looking good and we are of course ready to race next
Sunday at the Nurburgring."
Anthony Davidson
"We've had a productive couple of days at Silverstone
this week, covering a lot of laps, particularly today. Again
reliability has been strong, so that bodes well for the next
few races. I focused on tyre testing today, looking at the
constructions and compounds for the British Grand Prix, and
we're happy with the results that we found. It's been a little
bit difficult to find a good balance on the car today but
we will go away and study the data and understand why this
might be."
Mark Ellis - Chief Engineer Vehicle Performance
"We have completed some very productive work this week
continuing to improve on our race pace. Only our performance
at the Nurburgring will tell how successful we have been,
but we are confident that we have made some improvements.
We also completed a comprehensive tyre programme with Michelin
looking at the options for the Spanish and British Grands
Prix."
Shuhei Nakamoto
Management Board Member - Honda Racing F1 Team, Engineering
Director - Honda Racing Development
"It's been a productive test on some new upgrades to
the engine which we plan to introduce at the Spanish Grand
Prix."
TEST STATS
Drivers Chassis Wednesday 12 April
Thursday 13 April Friday 14 April
Jenson Button RA106-02 59 laps Fastest lap 01:21.131
135 laps Fastest lap 01:19.384 -
Rubens Barrichello RA106-05 -
109 laps Fastest lap 01:19.694 71 laps Fastest lap 01:19.614
Anthony Davidson RA106-02/5 65 laps Fastest lap 01:22.080
- 143 laps Fastest lap
01:19.760
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