2007 CHINESE GRAND PRIX SHANGHAI 06 OCTOBER
QUALIFYING
Jenson Button will start tomorrow's Chinese Grand Prix from
10th position after putting in a scintillating performance
behind the wheel of his RA107 during today's qualifying session.
It was the fourth time this year that he has qualified inside
the top 10 and the second time in as many weeks following
his sixth position on the grid at Fuji last weekend.
It was one of the most closely-fought qualifying sessions
of the year and in Q1 Rubens Barrichello set a time that was
only 0.2s slower than Jenson, but it equated to a seven-place
drop on the grid. He will start the race from 17th position.
The weather conditions at the Shanghai International Circuit
were hotter today than at any other time during the weekend.
The 45-degree track temperature helped Jenson and Rubens to
heat up their Bridgestone Potenza tyres, which in turn helped
them to improve the one-lap performance of their cars from
yesterday's practice sessions.
In Q1 they completed two flying laps each, with Rubens' first
run being slightly faster than Jenson's. They improved their
lap times on their second runs, when Rubens just missed out
on Q2 by two hundredths of a second.
In Q2 Jenson completed two flying laps. After his first run,
he lay just outside the top 10, but a determined effort on
his second lap saw him grab 10th position and a place in Q3.
The focus there was to maximise Jenson's chances in tomorrow's
56-lap race and he qualified 10th with a time of 1:39.285s.
JENSON BUTTON
"I am happy, and to be honest a little surprised, to
be in the top ten again this weekend. It was unexpected but
we were able to get the best out of the car today and have
over-achieved in terms of where this car should be qualifying,
which is a nice feeling. The forecast for tomorrow seems to
be for another wet race so we will give it our best shot from
here as points are a real possibility."
RUBENS BARRICHELLO
"I got a good lap in Q1 today but unfortunately we just
missed out on making it through to the second session. There
was really very little difference between the times so it
is frustrating to just miss out. It will be interesting to
see what the weather brings for tomorrow and we will just
have to see what can be done from here."
JACKY EECKELAERT
Engineering Director
"In practice this morning we evaluated a number of set-up
changes to prepare for this afternoon's qualifying. The track
conditions were fairly similar to yesterday although there
was a stronger wind. In qualifying, we were surprised by how
close all of the cars were in terms of lap time. Unfortunately
Rubens just missed out on the second session by 0.02s after
a very good effort which saw him sandwiched between the two
Renaults. Jenson did an excellent job to get the car through
to the final session to finish in 10th and we are all very
pleased at how much he was able to get out of the car."
QUALIFYING STATS
Drivers Car No. Chassis No. Free Practice Qualifying 1 Qualifying
2 Qualifying 3
Jenson Button 7 RA107-04 P13 P13 01:37.092 P10 01:36.771 P10
01:39.285
Rubens Barrichello 8 RA107-02 P18 P17 01:37.251 Did not qualify
Did not qualify
Weather Hot and sunny
Temperatures Air: 29-30°C Track: 41-46°C
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