Summary – Honda benefits from retirements!

The Honda team made things significantly more difficult for themselves during this race weekend in Valencia as they missed their qualifying session. Both riders didn’t make it past Q1, and on an urban track, it is crucial.

There was therefore no surprise today with the 13th and 16th places of Button and Barrichello, who logically move up three places after the retirements of Räikkönen, Alonso, and Sutil. Honda is eagerly awaiting this week’s tests in Monza.

Jenson Button – 13th:

I had a good start to gain three places in the end and secure a 13th position. Things were difficult for us because we started very far back on the grid, even though we had planned to do much better.

« I made only one stop, but I got stuck behind Heidfeld, which cost me some time. I didn’t have enough juice to overtake him. »

Rubens Barrichello – 16th:

« After qualifying, we decided to start the race from the pits to try to resolve the issues we had yesterday with the car. We changed the brakes so the car would handle differently. We really need to fix these problems that we’ve had all weekend, which cost me a lot of time and positions. Overall, a bad weekend. »

Ross Brawn – Team Principal:

« Jenson Button made a good start and managed to overtake three cars on the first lap, but the midfield teams are all very close together. Today, with a significant fuel load, he was unable to make further progress. For Rubens Barrichello, starting from the pits was the right decision since he avoided the congestion at the first corner. »

No way to take advantage of any safety car since no accident was observed. Fundamentally, we have improved our car since the beginning of August and we saw clear signs of progress during free practice. This weekend, what mattered was the qualifying session that we missed.

« We have three days of testing at Monza coming up on which we will focus to make the most of our latest developments. »