SPANISH GRAND PRIX BARCELONA
RACE
Rubens Barrichello achieved the Honda Racing F1 Team's first
top ten finish of the season in today's Spanish Grand Prix,
whilst team-mate Jenson Button finished in 12th position.
Having lined up 12th and 14th on the grid, both drivers had
a strong start and made up places to lie 10th and 11th respectively
at the end of lap two. They were 9th and 10th by lap 11 and
both ran in the points at different stages in the race. They
were making steady progress before a coming together on lap
22 as Jenson was rejoining the track from the pit lane exit
after his first stop. He lost his front wing after making
contact with the back of Rubens' car into turn one and was
forced to return to the pits for a nose change which compromised
his result.
The team will now continue to work hard on improving the
performance of the car ahead of the Monaco Grand Prix in two
weeks' time.
JENSON BUTTON
"We had a good strategy and have been working towards
the race all weekend, so I think we were on target for a better
day today. Unfortunately, as I exited the pit lane after my
first stop, I hit the kerb on the apex and that threw me offline.
I lost my front wing as I touched the right rear of Rubens'
car and I had to come back in for a nose change and that was
that really in terms of fighting for a point. In the last
stint though I thought our pace was very similar to that of
Kovalainen and Rosberg which is what helped me to climb back
up to 12th. Overall I think we have had a slightly better
weekend but there is a lot of work ahead of us. So we have
to keep pushing in the test next week and in Monaco and hopefully
that will pay dividends for a better step forward in Montreal."
RUBENS BARRICHELLO
"A better race today in terms of our overall performance
and the handling of the car but we just don't have the pace
to improve our final position significantly. I had left Jenson
enough room at turn one, it's a shame but just one of those
racing incidents. We have the four-day test at Paul Ricard
this week and I hope we can see another small step forward
by Monaco."
JACKY EECKELAERT
Engineering Director
"On the positive side we have made some degree of progress
here this weekend. On the other hand, it is just a small step
when we have a lot of catching up to do. During the first
part of the race both drivers looked to be in a position where
they could finish in the top eight. Unfortunately Jenson came
together with Rubens after his first stop and damaged his
front wing. Rubens ran 8th before the last pit-stop, but the
balance on the last set of tyres was not good and he lost
the position."
RACE STATS
Drivers Car No. Chassis No. Race Result
Rubens Barrichello 8 RA107-02 P10 Fastest Lap 01:24.287
Jenson Button 7 RA107-04 P12 Fastest Lap 01:24.186
Weather Hot and sunny
Temperatures Air: 28-30°C Track: 43-50°C
|
