2006 GERMAN GRAND PRIX
HOCKENHEIM RACE
The Honda Racing F1 Team's Jenson Button narrowly missed
out on a return to the podium today after taking 4th place
in this afternoon's German Grand Prix. He drove a committed
race to maintain his 4th place starting position, despite
running 3rd for much of the middle stint and again in the
closing stages.
There were mixed feelings in Hockenheim however after Rubens
suffered an engine failure just 18 laps into the race. After
a strong showing throughout free practice and qualifying,
the team had been hopeful of a points finish for both cars.
Nonetheless, Jenson's result earns a further five valuable
points for the team who strengthen their 4th place in the
Constructors Championship.
JENSON BUTTON
"I had a great race today and the first two stints were
very enjoyable. To get past both Renaults at the start and
then past Kimi during the race felt very good and I had a
lot of fun out there. The last stint was really tough because
I had massive amounts of tyre graining on the front left and
a lot of rear locking, so I just couldn't fight off Raikkonen.
I'm really happy though. We've made a definite step forward
here and we've been strong all weekend but we have to continue
that into Hungary now which will be hard work. It looks like
we're getting back on track though."
RUBENS BARRICHELLO
"We made some good progress here this weekend, so it's
very disappointing for me that we let that go with a bad start
and an engine failure. In the first few laps the car was running
well and with the strategy and long run pace we had I think
we should have done well today. Not long after my first pit
stop the engine caught fire and there was oil on the tyres
which caused me to spin and that was the end of my race. I
just have to hope that we can carry this progress through
to Hungary now because everyone has been working so hard to
take this step forward."
GIL DE FERRAN
Sporting Director
"Jenson achieved a good result for us today. After our
strong qualifying performance yesterday, neither car had the
best of starts, nevertheless both Jenson and Rubens were able
to fight back during the first stint when the cars were handling
well. Jenson was fighting hard for a podium, however the car's
handling went away in the last stint and there was no way
for him to maintain 3rd place. It was disappointing that Rubens
had to retire after such a strong weekend. Overall we are
happy with 4th place and we come away from Hockenheim encouraged
by the improved performance of both cars, the credit for which
must go to the whole team who have worked relentlessly on
a variety of new developments to both car and engine."
RACE STATS
Drivers Car No. Chassis Race Result
Rubens Barrichello 11 RA106-01 DNF Fastest lap 01:18.029
Jenson Button 12 RA106-05 P4 Fastest lap 01:16.818
Weather Hot and sunny
Temperatures Air: 32-34°C Track: 46-51°C
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