Honda Racing F1 Team - Bahrain Test Report
The Honda Racing F1 Team concluded its 2007 pre-season testing
programme at the Bahrain International Circuit today. With
all four drivers in attendance, the team concentrated on evaluating
the final specification of the RA107 car and conducting race
simulations before the Formula One season starts in Australia
on 18 March.
Christian Klien and James Rossiter began the test on Tuesday
with both drivers having their first run in the new car around
the Bahrain circuit. They spent their early laps acclimatising
to the conditions, before Christian went on to complete an
aero evaluation followed by race start procedures over 89
laps. James also worked on an aero evaluation alongside a
tyre programme completing 78 laps.
Jenson Button and Rubens Barrichello joined the team in Bahrain
on Wednesday. Jenson spent the day working on an aero programme
alongside suspension evaluations, completing 75 laps. Rubens
concentrated on general chassis set-up work and a further
aero evaluation, finishing the day with a total of 61 laps.
The race drivers continued their running for the final day
of the test. Jenson began with race start and qualifying simulations
before completing aero and electronic controls systems work.
Rubens continued to work on general set-up aimed at improving
the car's performance over short and long runs. He spent the
afternoon completing long tyre runs on the different Bridgestone
compounds available. Jenson completed 99 laps with Rubens
covering 119 laps on their final day in the car.
Jenson Button
"We completed our test programme for the start of the
season today and can now look forward to the first Grand Prix
in Melbourne. The car has proved reliable throughout pre-season
testing and we have made improvements since the RA107 ran
for the first time in January. However, we still have some
work to do off-track to ensure we can get the most from our
package in the first few races."
Rubens Barrichello
"The test has gone well this week although we had a much
better day today than yesterday. I have been able to complete
some good long distance running with the car and the reliability
is there, which is positive. It is difficult to predict where
we are in relation to the other teams, and although I am comfortable
with our results, we do still have some development work to
achieve. I am really looking forward to the start of the season
as I feel very much at home with the team and the car this
year and I think we can do a good job together."
Christian Klien
"We were able to complete our planned test programme
on Tuesday despite the windy conditions which made the data
collection a little difficult. However the car was reliable
and we were able to complete some good laps."
James Rossiter
"This was my first time in the new car since the shakedown
at Silverstone back in January so it was good to be able to
get back in and begin to understand its characteristics. We
focused mainly on tyre work on Tuesday and improving the balance
of the car over longer runs."
Jacky Eeckelaert - Engineering Director
"We completed our final pre-season test in Bahrain this
week with all four of our drivers in attendance. On the first
day, Christian and James worked on some new development parts
and on the final two days Jenson and Rubens completed several
race distances to sign off the reliability of the RA107 car.
Our latest developments for the start of the season have improved
the car handling but we still have some work to do in terms
of overall pace. We know the areas which need to be improved
and the continuous development of the car should allow us
to improve the pace to where we would like to be."
TEST STATS (All timings are unofficial)
Drivers Chassis Tuesday 27 February
Wednesday 28 February Thursday 01 March
Jenson Button RA107 -
75 laps Fastest lap 01:32.293 99 laps Fastest lap 01:31.837
Rubens Barrichello RA107 -
61 laps Fastest lap 01:32.650 119 laps Fastest lap
01:31.067
Christian Klien RA107 89 laps Fastest lap 01:33.378 -
-
James Rossiter RA107 78 laps Fastest lap 01:33.597 -
-
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