2007 BRAZILIAN GRAND PRIX
INTERLAGOS - QUALIFYING
Rubens Barrichello will line up on the sixth row of the grid
in his home race tomorrow after enjoying one of his best qualifying
sessions of the year this afternoon at Interlagos.
His day got off to a positive start when he was placed sixth
in this morning's final free practice session, which gave
him a boost ahead of the crucial qualifying hour. He ended
the afternoon in 11th position after missing out on a place
in Q3 by less than 0.05s and will start tomorrow's Brazilian
Grand Prix from the sixth row of the grid. His Honda team-mate
Jenson Button had a more difficult session and ended the day
in 16th position.
After a damp start to the weekend, the circuit basked in
ambient temperatures of up to 32°C. Both drivers completed
two flying runs in Q1 and improved their lap times on each
occasion. Rubens' first effort placed him 11th, and although
he improved by 0.2s on his second run, he ended the 15-minute
session in 12th place. Jenson's first run left him in the
drop zone, but a determined second lap saw him through to
Q2 by 0.02s.
Two more flying laps followed for both drivers in Q2, Rubens'
best being a 1:12.932s which just squeezed him out of the
top 10. Jenson continued to struggle with a lack of grip and
his best lap, a 1:13.469, put him 16th.
RUBENS BARRICHELLO
"I am very pleased to have had a stronger weekend so
far here at my home race but at the same time a little disappointed
that we could not make it through to the final qualifying
session today. The car felt very good this morning but this
afternoon the rear was moving around a little too much so
we lost a bit of time there. We got every last bit of performance
out of the car today and I think we can have a good race from
11th."
JENSON BUTTON
"Not a great qualifying session for me today which reflects
that we have been off the pace pretty much all weekend. The
car has a consistent lack of grip and unfortunately we haven't
been able to improve the set-up to overcome this. It will
be a tough race from 16th so we will just have to see what
opportunities the race presents."
JACKY EECKELAERT
Engineering Director
"This morning we were able to work on the car balance
in dry conditions on both prime and option tyres. Rubens was
immediately pleased with his set-up, while Jenson was unable
to find a good balance through the lap. In qualifying it was
disappointing for Rubens to miss out on a place in Q3 by less
than 0.05s and to find Jenson still struggling with an unpredictable
balance. The hotter ambient temperatures in the afternoon
affected the car balance a little more than we anticipated
but we will work to find a strategy that gives us the best
possible chance in the final race of the season tomorrow."
QUALIFYING STATS
Drivers Car No. Chassis No. Free Practice Qualifying 1 Qualifying
2 Qualifying 3
Rubens Barrichello 8 RA107-02 P6 P12 01:13.661 P11 01:12.932
Did not qualify
Jenson Button 7 RA107-04 P13 P16 01:14.054 P16 01:13.469 Did
not qualify
Weather Hot and sunny
Temperatures Air: 30-32°C Track: 58-61°C
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