2007 UNITED STATES GRAND PRIX
INDIANAPOLIS - RACE
The Honda Racing F1 Team's Jenson Button ended today's United
States Grand Prix in 12th position. His team-mate Rubens Barrichello's
race ended after a first corner incident in which he tried
to avoid Ralf Schumacher's spin and clashed with two other
cars. Rubens came into the pits where the team retired him
with a broken wishbone and push rod. The damage was too extensive
to repair during the race.
Jenson struggled with understeer during the first stint and
at his pit stop it was clear that he had sustained quite a
lot of damage to the front of the car and the right-hand sidepod
and flick-up, which compromised the aerodynamic performance
of his car. During the stop the team had a fuel rig pressure
valve failure which cost him time in the pitlane and he also
received too much fuel, causing him to run heavy in the second
stint.
JENSON BUTTON
"It was a fun race today but ultimately another disappointing
afternoon for us. At the start I was on the outside and I
was hit by Rubens, which damaged the front of my car along
with the bodywork. That forced me across the grass and left
me almost at the back of the field which was disappointing.
Still it was a fun race with some good overtaking until my
pit stop, when we had a problem with the fuel rig which cost
me time and then I had about 15kg too much fuel in the car
which compromised the rest of the race. We were just off the
pace again and we now have a lot of work to do next week in
Jerez to move our performance on."
RUBENS BARRICHELLO
"I think it was just an unlucky first corner racing incident
today. I tried to avoid a spinning Ralf and unfortunately
hit two cars, one of which was Jenson. The contact broke my
front suspension and that was it for me today. Sadly Jenson's
car was damaged as well. We have an important test next week
in Jerez, so the team just has to look forward now and focus
on improving our performance for the rest of the season."
JACKY EECKELAERT
Engineering Director
"Rubens got a good start which allowed him to overtake
Rosberg and get on equal terms with Ralf Schumacher. Unfortunately
he was involved in a first corner incident which ended his
race as the damage to his suspension was beyond repair. Jenson
also lost five places in the same incident and sustained damage
to the right hand side bodywork which compromised the aerodynamic
performance of his car. Despite this he was able to make up
six places before his pitstop. At the stop we had a pressure
release valve failure on the fuel rig and switching to the
second rig lost Jenson precious seconds in the pitlane. The
midfield was very close so this lost Jenson three places.
Both rigs delivered fuel at the stop so he was also running
too heavy in the second stint which compromised his pace during
the rest of the race."
RACE STATS
Drivers Car No. Chassis No. Race Result
Jenson Button 7 RA107-04 P12 Fastest Lap 01:14.703
Rubens Barrichello 8 RA107-02 Did not finish
Weather Hot and sunny
Temperatures Air: 35-36°C Track: 46-57°C
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