Team pays tribute to Button

Gil de Ferran, Sporting Director at the Honda Racing F1 Team, was quick to praise Jenson Button for keeping his cool in tricky conditions and taking pole position today for the Australian Grand Prix.

"We are absolutely delighted that Jenson is on pole for the first time this season," he enthused. "Both car and engine were working well as a result of some changes we made overnight and he pulled out all the stops to produced a fantastic lap. However, all three sessions were nerve-wracking to say the least and at no point did we feel entirely comfortable with our position."

As de Ferran admits, Button's third career pole position lifted team spirit after what had been a difficult qualifying hour for the Honda team. Rubens Barrichello missed the first cut and Jenson had to survive some late drama before making it all the way into the final ten.

"It all started with the red flag in the first session, which unfortunately caught Rubens out on his new tyre run. Subsequently, his best lap was ruined by traffic and he ran out of time," explains de Ferran. "Disappointing, but we know he has the pace to have a good race tomorrow.

"The excitement continued with yet another red flag prior to Jenson setting a time at all, but thankfully he was able to get a clear enough gap before it started sprinkling in the dying minutes of the session. That weather uncertainty pushed us into setting a lap time early in the third session, and once it was clear that there was no longer the threat of rain, we focused on getting Jenson into clear air for his last new tyres. The rest is history! Obviously this is the best possible position to be in going into the race but let's see what tomorrow brings!"