2007 BELGIAN GRAND PRIX
SPA - RACE
The Honda Racing F1 Team endured a frustrating Belgian Grand
Prix this afternoon. Rubens Barrichello finished in 13th position
and Jenson Button was forced to retire on lap 37.
The RA107 lacked consistency around the demanding seven-kilometre
Spa-Francorchamps circuit, which made it difficult to drive
over a race distance. As a result, the team adopted a one-stop
strategy to maximise their chances of a reasonable result.
At the start, both drivers got away well. Jenson was 12th
on the grid and managed to retain that position through the
notoriously tight La Source hairpin on the opening lap. It
was the same story for Rubens, back in 17th place.
The drivers battled their way up the order during the opening
segment of the race, helped by the cars ahead of them pitting
early on their two-stop strategies. Jenson then became the
first of the Honda Racing F1 Team's drivers to pit at the
end of lap 24. He had climbed up to 11th position by this
point and rejoined the race in 15th place.
Rubens stayed out two laps longer than his team-mate, pitting
from 12th place at the end of lap 26. He rejoined in 17th
position and spent the remainder of the race fighting with
Liuzzi.
Disappointment was to strike on lap 37 when Jenson slowed
two-thirds of the way around the lap. He made it back to the
pits, but was forced to retire with hydraulic failure. Rubens
went on to cross the line in 13th position.
RUBENS BARRICHELLO
"This has been a pretty frustrating weekend for us because
we have been struggling with the car from start to finish.
Today, carrying that amount of fuel for a one-stop strategy,
the rears were locking badly and I was fighting the car the
whole race. Now we have to look forward to Tuesday, the start
of our test in Jerez, where we will test the car in a different
configuration - hopefully a better one so we can make some
progress in the remaining three races."
JENSON BUTTON
"It's always disappointing to retire from a race but
it was six laps less pain as the car was so difficult to drive.
We expected a tough race this weekend, having tested the revised
circuit back in July, so it was no surprise that the car has
not been working well here. It was a tough race and the car
was changing from huge oversteer to understeer throughout
the lap. Then the clutch started slipping, the power steering
failed and it was clear we had experienced a hydraulic failure.
Disappointing, but we head to Jerez next week with new developments
for our home race in Japan and let's hope for better things
in Fuji."
JACKY EECKELAERT
Engineering Director
"Our race result today reflects our qualifying positions
and that was the most we could hope for really. On this high-speed
track our car is simply not fast enough to get us into the
points on merit and today there were no reliability issues
at the front of the field. We adopted a one-stop strategy,
which was the right choice from where we started, and both
Jenson and Rubens did a good job with a very difficult car.
Next week we will be testing a new aero package in Jerez,
which will be used for the remaining three races. We hope
to be able to demonstrate the benefit of all the hard work
that has been taking place back at base over the past few
weeks."
RACE STATS
Drivers Car No. Chassis No. Race Result
Rubens Barrichello 8 RA107-05 P13 Fastest Lap 01:50.678
Jenson Button 7 RA107-04 DNF Fastest Lap 01:51.141
Weather Warm and dry
Temperatures Air: 21-22°C Track: 32-38°C
|
