Report – Saturday – Mid-grid for Honda

Jenson Button made his Honda team hopeful for a few hours that a great performance might be possible as he set the 8th fastest time in the morning’s free practice 3.

Unfortunately, in qualifying, the Englishman did not perform as expected, and his teammate Rubens Barrichello placed ahead of him, almost reaching Q3. He will start from 11th position. Ross Brawn is doing everything possible to lead Honda on the path to success.

Rubens Barrichello – 17th and 11th:

My last lap in Q2 was perfect and I am happy for the team and myself to have set a good time. Unfortunately, we were just not fast enough to be in the top ten.

« The new aerodynamic package is certainly an improvement, which was tested last week. We still have a few adjustments to make to be even more efficient. We managed to set up a very good setup during the qualifiers. I’m convinced it will be the same for tomorrow’s race. »

Jenson Button – 8th and 13th:

« The qualifications were so tight today that it was very difficult for us to prevail. A large part of our work this weekend is to try to best understand the new developments of our car. »

« It was really helpful for us to gain stability and minimize understeering. The goal was somewhat of a catch-up session for what I missed last week. »

« In the current circumstances, I am satisfied with our position. I felt much more comfortable in the car. I need a bit more time to properly understand the new aerodynamic package and know how to make the most of it. We will see what happens tomorrow. »

Steve Clark – Head of Engineering:

The Top 10 was very close and Rubens was just 65 thousandths off. Q3 was therefore within our reach.

« We have improved the car, but the same goes for our competitors, and the targets vary all the time.