Luca Di Grassi and Honda, a possible duo as early as 2009?

Lucas di Grassi is testing for Honda Racing this week in Barcelona and hopes to be convincing enough for the Japanese team to retain him as a race driver next season.

During Monday, the Brazilian was alongside another Brazilian, Bruno Senna, who is also in the running to be a possible replacement for Rubens Barrichello.

Di Grassi, who finished in third place in the 2008 GP2 championship, will also be on track on Wednesday and hopes that his performance will earn him the highly coveted seat.

“I’m proud that there are so many Brazilians vying for a spot in Formula 1,” said the person who is still Renault’s test driver.

« This means that we are really very good, but I don’t think it comes from our nationality; rather, it’s because Bruno Senna and I did a very good job in GP2. Honda chose us for these tests based on this criterion and no other. I hope to get the race driver position and have a good 2009 season. »

However, he recognizes that it is still too early to know who is best positioned to become Jenson Button’s teammate if and only if Barrichello is let go! « It is very difficult to make any judgment. It will depend on our results over the three days of testing. We must be patient. »