2008 MALAYSIAN GRAND PRIX SEPANG
FREE PRACTICE
The Honda Racing F1 Team enjoyed a positive start to what
is one of the most demanding grand prix weekends of the year
for both car and driver. At the conclusion of the opening
free practice sessions, Jenson Button was lying in fourth
position whilst team-mate Rubens Barrichello ended the day
in 11th place.
As predicted, the weather conditions were very hot but no
more so than those experienced in Australia just one week
ago. The ambient temperature was never below 30°C but
the cockpit temperature exceeded 50°C and unlike Melbourne
the humidity was over 70%.
The two drivers completed a total of 115 laps between them.
Jenson was ninth fastest in session one, but managed to improve
his fastest lap by 1.2s in session two to jump up the time
sheets to fourth place. Rubens was 13th in session one and
he too managed to improve his lap time in session two to end
the day in 11th place.
RESULTS
Drivers Car No. Chassis No. Free Practice 1 Free Practice
2
Jenson Button 16 RA108-02 17 laps 01:37.282 P9 40 laps 01:36.037
P4
Rubens Barrichello 17 RA108-04 20 laps 01:37.776 P13 38 laps
01:36.879 P11
Weather Very hot and humid (70%)
Temperatures Air: 28-34°C Track: 40-57°C
JENSON BUTTON
Q. What was the focus of your practice programme today?
A. "The track here at Sepang has been completely resurfaced
since last year, so it was important to see how much of a
difference this has made. We also ran through the usual tyre
evaluation and set-up work and we have completed a lot of
running, which is good. All in all, a very valuable day of
testing in preparation for the weekend."
Q. Fourth position appears to be quite promising. Is this
a good indication of what we can expect for the weekend ahead?
A. "We have made good progress over the day and I'm happy
with the car and the balance, which is positive. It's always
difficult to know where we stand on a Friday versus the rest
of the field but I'm hopeful that we can continue to improve
the car through this evening and tomorrow."
RUBENS BARRICHELLO
Q. How is the set-up of the RA108 after today's practice
sessions?
A. "I was quite happy with the set-up of the car on old
tyres this afternoon and we achieved some good work on the
long run pace. However, I am still struggling with the set-up
on new tyres so we need to look at the data overnight and
improve on that for tomorrow."
Q. After a strong drive in Melbourne last weekend, what are
you expecting from this race?
A. "We had a good weekend in Melbourne but it is important
to keep our feet on the ground and continue to work as hard
as possible. The car is very driveable and providing we get
the set-up right for qualifying tomorrow, we are aiming to
make it into the top twelve. If we can achieve that, then
I am confident we can have a good race from there."
STEVE CLARK
Head of Race & Test Engineering
Q. What are the particular challenges placed on the car and
driver by the climatic conditions at this race?
A. "We came to Malaysia expecting very high temperatures
but in fact we have not yet seen the exceptionally hot weather
we experienced in Melbourne. For the car it is the temperature
that is critical for reliability; the driver has another issue
- that of very high humidity, which is more difficult than
heat alone since the body's cooling is less effective. Dehydration
is a real issue during the race and they have to work hard
at managing their fluid intake. The heat and the severity
of the newly resurfaced track are proving a challenge for
the tyres and we are seeing both fronts and rears overheating."
Q. What are your expectations at this stage for the rest of
the weekend?
A. "So far the results look quite encouraging. The balance
of the car is not yet where we want it to be so we can still
improve. However the pace is quite encouraging, particularly
on race fuel loads. Whilst it is perhaps optimistic at this
stage in the car's development, we hope to be challenging
for a place in the final qualifying session tomorrow."
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