Sepang, Malaysia
2006 MALAYSIAN GRAND PRIX, SEPANG, QUALIFYING
Drivers Car No. Chassis
Rubens Barrichello 11 RA106-01
Jenson Button 12 RA106-04
T-Car - RA106-03
Weather Hot and sunny
Temperatures Free Practice Air: 34-36°C Track: 40-44°C
Humidity: 46-50%
Qualifying Air: 34-36°C
Track: 40-44°C Humidity: 46-50%
The Honda Racing F1 Team's Jenson Button will start tomorrow's
Malaysian Grand Prix from the front row of the grid after
posting the 2nd fastest time in today's action-packed qualifying
session. After a solid morning of free practice running, Jenson
was happy with the set-up of his Honda and fired up for the
crucial knock-out hour. He missed out on pole by just 0.1
sec.
On the opposite side of the garage, Rubens Barrichello has
been uncomfortable with the set-up of his RA106 all weekend
then suffered an engine problem in this morning's free practice.
Faced with a ten place relegation, the team had nothing to
lose and decided to switch to the T-car chassis with a fresh
engine. Rubens' early pace demonstrated that although he was
happier with the new chassis it was not enough and he just
missed out on session 3 qualification by 0.1 sec to end the
day 12th. However, his engine change puts him further back
on the grid.
JENSON BUTTON
Free Practice 3 Position: 4th Fastest lap time: 1:34.616
Qualifying
Session 1 4th Lap Time:
1:35.023
Session 2 1st Lap Time:
1:33.527
Session 3 - Final Position: 2nd Lap Time: 1:33.986
"The team has done a fantastic job to get us on the
front row of the grid and I have to thank them for that. Things
were looking a lot less positive yesterday when we were really
struggling to find a good set-up. A lot of hard work was done
overnight and tomorrow looks promising, but let's wait and
see. This is always a tough race but I'm certainly looking
forward to it."
RUBENS BARRICHELLO
Free Practice 3 Position: 15th Fastest lap time:
1:36.655
Qualifying
Session 1 14th Lap Time:
1:35.526
Session 2 - Final Position 12th Lap Time: 1:34.683
Session 3 Did not qualify
"This has been quite a difficult day for me. I was still
unhappy with the set-up of the car in free practice then we
encountered an engine problem and had to change. It was obviously
very disappointing for me to know that I would lose 10 places
on the grid but we also decided to change chassis to see if
this would give us a better chance for the race. I'm starting
from towards the back of the grid which means tomorrow will
be tough but I'll give it my best shot and see what the race
brings."
GIL DE FERRAN
SPORTING DIRECTOR
"We are delighted with Jenson's qualifying session;
starting on the front row certainly bodes well for tomorrow.
The performance was a real team effort as not only did Jenson
do a stellar job behind the wheel but our engineers managed
to improve the car tremendously from yesterday. Unfortunately
Rubens had a difficult day. We had to change his engine prior
to qualifying after a small problem developed in the late
stages of free practice and we were unable to adapt the set-up
of the car to his liking. We will continue to work hard with
Rubens and believe he can still have a good race."
SHUHEI NAKAMOTO
MANAGEMENT BOARD MEMBER, HONDA RACING F1 TEAM
ENGINEERING DIRECTOR, HONDA RACING DEVELOPMENT
"We had a tough day today but I am very pleased that
we got Jenson on to the front row of the grid. I would like
to thank the team for their hard work in making that possible.
Regarding Rubens, he felt down on power at the end of this
morning's free practice session. We located a problem and
decided to change the engine, but we were obviously unable
to work on the set-up before qualifying. We are very disappointed
for Rubens but we will do our utmost to give both drivers
the best possible chance in tomorrow's race."
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