2006 MONACO GRAND PRIX
MONTE CARLO - RACE
Rubens Barrichello brought home five championship points
today at the end of a tough Monaco Grand Prix for the Honda
Racing F1 Team. He got a good start on heavy fuel, holding
5th position off the grid, and maintained a solid performance
throughout the 78-lap race. Rubens enjoyed a thrilling battle
with Jarno Trulli for much of the race and a superbly executed
pit stop on lap 46 meant the Brazilian rejoined the action
ahead of Trulli. Rubens battled with oversteer but pushed
hard and was challenging for a podium position until he was
given a drive-through penalty for speeding in the pit lane.
He closed in on David Coulthard, finishing only a second behind
despite losing 13 seconds as he took the penalty.
On the other side of the garage it was a long hard afternoon
for Jenson Button. He never really recovered from his 13th
position on the grid and came home in 11th place.
RUBENS BARRICHELLO
"4th is a good points finish and my best so far this
season but I'm disappointed because I was looking good for
3rd today. It was a tough race and I didn't feel competitive
at all. I was carrying a lot of fuel but I did a good job
to keep pace because I was really struggling with the balance
of the car. It was obviously a huge blow to be called in for
the drive-through penalty because I was sure the limiter light
was on. I'm really very upset for the team and for myself
because it would have been an extra point, but more than that,
my first podium of the year. The guys did a great job all
weekend, especially for us to qualify well on such a lot of
fuel and I thank them for that."
JENSON BUTTON
"After qualifying where we did yesterday, this was always
going to be a struggle for me. I lost rear tyre grip and had
to stop a lot earlier than I wanted to because of that. At
the stop we put scrubbed tyres on and took a lot of front
wing off. After that the car was doing okay. All in all, this
was definitely a race to forget for me but at least we are
taking away a lot of information. Even though Rubens was fourth
today we certainly didn't get the best out of the car this
weekend and we still have a lot of work to do to catch up
with the front runners."
GIL DE FERRAN
Sporting Director
"An extremely tough afternoon full of highs and lows.
Both drivers were struggling with the balance of the car throughout
the race, nevertheless due to Rubens' good grid position,
he eventually found himself in a podium position. Of course
we were devastated with Rubens' drive-through penalty, although
4th place is his best result with our team so far. Jenson
was unable to recover from the low grid position, especially
given the handling difficulties we were having."
SHUHEI NAKAMOTO
Management Board Member - Honda Racing F1 Team, Engineering
Director - Honda Racing Development
"Rubens battled hard today and nearly achieved a podium
finish for us. Monaco has always proved to be a tough race
on the cars and engines and I am pleased we got both engines
to the end of their second races."
RACE STATS
Drivers Car No. Chassis Race Result
Rubens Barrichello 11 RA106-01 P4 Fastest lap 01:17.320
Jenson Button 12 RA106-04 P11 Fastest lap 01:17.300
T-Car - RA106-03
Weather Warm and sunny
Temperatures Air: 26°C Track: 40°C
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