Honda hoping for good qualifying

Honda heads to Spa Francorchamps for the Belgian Grand Prix, the 13th round of the championship. The 44-lap race is one of the oldest on the calendar, having been staged for the first time in the World Championship's inaugural season in 1950, and the track remains one of the fastest and most challenging in the world.

Over the years Spa-Francorchamps has been shortened from its original 14.9km length several times and the current configuration is 7.004km in length. This makes the track the longest on the F1 calendar and it retains much of its original character by following the natural undulations of the Ardennes region of Belgium.

Honda had a poor run last time out in Valencia with Jenson Button and Rubens Barrichello finishing 13th and 16th respectively, but the team will be looking to its 14 points secured so far this year this coming Sunday.

"All the drivers love going to Spa, and for me, it is one of the most beautiful circuits that we race on with fantastically green and lush surroundings. For a driver, the circuit has one of those layouts which has everything and gives you a real buzz to drive, just like Suzuka and Silverstone.

"Eau Rouge is a legendary corner and the feeling when you hit the bottom of the hill, the car touches the ground and you shoot straight back up again is amazing. It's a crazy corner in the dry and even more so in the wet. The weather can play a big part in the race weekend which is great for us as the car goes well in the wet. It can be raining at one end of the lap but completely dry at the other so you have to be ready and react quickly to whatever the weather throws at you."

"Our test in Monza last week was positive and we expect to have resolved the braking problems which affected my weekend in Valencia. Spa is without doubt one of the best circuits on the calendar, and with the unpredictable weather and the opportunities for overtaking, you always expect an entertaining race.

"The lap gives you a fantastic feeling in a Formula One car as it is very fast and flowing with some great corners. It's easy on the tyres, brakes and engine as there are an unusually low number of stops from top speed down to a low gear and you have a long time between those corners to cool the brakes.

"The car is set-up with a medium downforce package, similar to Montreal specification, but you have to keep your options open if the weather turns when you will need to go to higher downforce. Spa is also the longest lap on the calendar so you need to be precise on your timing in practice and qualifying to make the most of your track time."

"We made a significant step forward with the RA108 over the summer break, however we were not able to convert that potential into a strong qualifying and race performance in Valencia which was disappointing. Our priority for the Belgian Grand Prix weekend will be to optimise those performance steps and improve our qualifying performance to give Jenson and Rubens the best possible chance of a good race result. Following last week's test in Monza, we will have developments to our braking system which should resolve the issues which Rubens faced in Valencia, in addition to a specific aerodynamic package for the medium downforce levels required at Spa."

"Spa is one of the great classic racing circuits and certainly one of my favourites. The lap features some of the most interesting, fast and challenging corners on the racing calendar which make it a great favourite for the drivers, and also with the engineers because when you get the car right, you can really pick up a lot of time. To stand at Eau Rouge and watch a car go through that very fast corner, right on the limit, can still make the hairs stand up on the back of your neck. The weather frequently plays a role at Spa and there is a great opportunity when bad weather strikes to achieve a surprise result. We have seen already this season that our car can perform rather better in the wet than the dry and I for one would certainly not object to an inclement weekend."