2007 FRENCH GRAND PRIX
MAGNY COURS - FREE PRACTICE
Free practice for this weekend's French Grand Prix got underway
in Magny-Cours today in somewhat cooler conditions than experienced
over the past few races.
The Honda Racing F1 Team's Jenson Button and Rubens Barrichello
spent the day working through an extensive set-up programme
to tailor the RA107 to the characteristics of Le Circuit de
Nevers. They ended the day in 15th and 18th positions respectively.
The unusually cool temperatures for the time of year - ambient
20°c and track 31°c - coupled with re-surfacing work
on two-thirds of the 4.411km lap, made balancing the RA107
rather more of a challenge today. Despite this, the aerodynamic
and front suspension upgrades that the team is introducing
this weekend performed as expected, with both drivers reporting
improvements to the long-run pace of the car.
JENSON BUTTON
"It was a typical Friday practice for us today as we
focused on evaluating the tyres and finding the best set-up
on the car. Most of the runs went fairly smoothly with Rubens
and myself covering a lot of laps giving us plenty of data
to work with overnight. It was pretty windy out there today
which will make the data comparisons trickier but the conditions
are the same for everyone."
RUBENS BARRICHELLO
"I thought the car was a little more competitive today,
although that isn't necessarily represented by our position
on the time sheets. We struggled a little with the balance
of the car during the morning session, particularly with the
rear end, but it improved over the course of the day. Unfortunately
I didn't get my last run on the new tyres this afternoon due
to the yellow flags after a car went off the track. That would
have improved my lap time a little for sure. Still, we have
a lot of information to look over this evening to try to improve
for qualifying tomorrow."
JACKY EECKELAERT
Engineering Director
"Both drivers focused on finding a good car balance for
the race and working with both the prime and option tyres.
We achieved a reasonable pace during our long run programme
but neither Jenson nor Rubens got a good, clean lap on new
tyres, which is important preparation for qualifying tomorrow.
Tomorrow will provide us with a better barometer of our upgrade
developments for this race."
FREE PRACTICE STATS
Drivers Car No. Chassis No. Free Practice 1 Free Practice
2
Jenson Button 7 RA107-04 24 laps 01:17.047 P14 43 laps 01:16.395
P15
Rubens Barrichello 8 RA107-02 25 laps 01:16.990 P13 47 laps
01:16.950 P18
Weather Cool & overcast
Temperatures Air: 17-21°C Track: 26-35°C
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