Brawn: « The priority for Honda remains 2009 »

Honda Racing’s team principal, Ross Brawn, claims that the initial encouraging signs from the RA108 will not be enough to consider the 2008 season a success. The team is focused on 2009, as they believe it is only then that the improvements will bear fruit.

Jenson Button and Rubens Barrichello delivered promising performances in the first two races of the year. Additionally, with a number of improvements planned for the upcoming races, the hopes for a significant step forward in terms of pace are high.

« I feel that the team can still improve the car in certain areas, » stated Brawn.

« You may notice on the track that the car’s balance is not very good. Therefore, there are things like this that we need to improve. »

From an aerodynamic point of view, we are making very good progress. On the chassis side, we need to make them more efficient, but everyone is very open and positive about improving the situation.

« I still need a few races to know where we stand, but we are in a much more comfortable position than during the winter tests, » he continued.

At present, the Japanese team has enough resources for the projects planned for 2008 and 2009, but a decision will have to be made in the coming months to determine whether or not 2009 should be considered a priority.

« The 2009 program has started and the main question is whether more resources should be put into this program. We don’t have a problem in terms of resources at the moment, but we will certainly have one in the months to come. »