2008 AUSTRALIAN GRAND PRIX
MELBOURNE - QUALIFYING
The Honda Racing F1 Team enjoyed a positive first qualifying
session of the year at Albert Park. Rubens Barrichello and
Jenson Button both set times less than 0.2s shy of the top
10 and they will start tomorrow's 58-lap race from 11th and
13th positions respectively.
Both drivers completed two runs each during Q1 and improved
their cars in between. Rubens achieved a pleasing seventh
place, with a time of 1:26.369s, while Jenson ended the session
12th with a lap of 1:26.712s.
Q2 was disrupted by a red flag which forced both Honda Racing
F1 Team drivers to abandon their first qualifying runs of
that session. When the action resumed five minutes later,
the drivers immediately headed onto the track. Jenson's first
run was a 1:26.259s and Rubens was just 0.1s behind. Jenson
ended the session in 13th place, while Rubens improved his
time by 0.2s and will start tomorrow's race from 11th position.
RESULTS
Drivers Car No. Chassis No. Free Practice Qualifying 1 Qualifying
2 Qualifying 3
Rubens Barrichello 17 RA108-04 P16 P7 01:26.369 P11 01:26.173
Did not qualify
Jenson Button 16 RA108-02 P7 P12 01:26.712 P13 01:26.259 Did
not qualify
Weather Hot and sunny
Temperatures Air: 23-25°C Track: 37-42°C
RUBENS BARRICHELLO
Q. How do you feel about your qualifying performance
and resulting position?
A. "I am really pleased with our qualifying position
today. Everybody back at the factory and here at the track
has done a great job. It's very tight in the midfield, but
if you look back to just over a month ago at our position
in testing and compare that with where we are today, you can
see the step forward that has been made after a lot of hard
work. The car performed well and it's satisfying to know that
we have made real progress over the last few weeks."
Q. What are your expectations for tomorrow's race?
A. "Well obviously I'm disappointed to just miss out
on the top ten but on the other hand from 11th we can choose
our own strategy and take into account the weather, so it
works out quite well. Today has been a good start to the season
for us and now we have to focus on turning this into a good
race performance tomorrow."
JENSON BUTTON
Q.Were you able to maximise the RA108 in qualifying
today?
A. "The car certainly performed well but unfortunately
I lost two-tenths at both turn 9 and the last corner with
understeer at the apex which caused me to run wide. It's very
frustrating as I was pushing too hard, however the fact that
both Rubens and I just missed out on the top ten is certainly
encouraging and I'm looking forward to seeing how our performance
translates to the race tomorrow."
Q. How were the track conditions for today's qualifying
session?
A. "The temperatures are a good few degrees cooler than
the intense heat of yesterday and the wind has dropped, which
means we can pick up more grip. The track conditions remained
pretty much constant today with the grip levels increasing
through qualifying as more rubber went down over the course
of the sessions."
STEVE CLARK
Head of Race & Test Engineering
Q.What have been the main technical challenges of
today's qualifying session?
A. The first session went well and without incident, seeing
both cars through. In Q2 the red flag caused by Webber compromised
both our drivers on their first planned run. There was just
enough time to run again as per plan and the team coped very
well under the fairly pressured conditions. Technically we
experienced no issues today.
Q. What is the outlook for tomorrow's race in terms
of car performance and climatic conditions?
A. The weather predictions for tomorrow are very warm again,
as yesterday. We have considered this in our preparation today
so giving up a little performance in qualifying. The hot conditions
will be a challenge for all competitors, both for reliability
and looking after the tyres with race fuel. With this in mind
there may well be opportunities for us to progress closer
to the points. Our thanks to everyone at our operational bases
in Japan and the UK and here at the track. All the hard work
of the past few months is clearly starting to pay dividends.
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