Focus switches to Barcelona
With only a week between races (European Grand Prix at the Nürburgring and the Spanish Grand Prix at the Circuit de Catalunya), the Honda Racing F1 Team's focus has switched to this weekend's Spanish Grand Prix in Barcelona.
"A home from home is the perfect description of the Spanish Grand Prix," confirms Gil de Ferran, Sporting Director. "Like many other teams, we use the track extensively for testing throughout the year. The RA106 has been competitive in the various tests there since it was launched back in January; in addition, we have the latest specification engine for both drivers. All of which makes us positive going into this weekend, despite our relative lack of pace in the last race."
Last weekend's European Grand Prix was a race of mixed fortunes for the Honda Racing F1 Team. While Rubens Barrichello finished in the points for a second successive weekend, Jenson Button's retirement due to engine failure, when also in a good points scoring position, was obviously a disappointment.
"While we scored points at the Nürburgring," continues de Ferran, "we didn’t get as many as we were hoping for. Rubens drove a good race, battling hard all day and especially at the end, to score his best finish for our team yet. Unfortunately we had an engine failure with Jenson and he was unable to capitalise on a good start and first half of the race. Generally speaking, though, we lacked pace with both cars."
"Clearly we had a bit of a mixed day in Germany,” concurs Shuhei Nakamoto, Engineering Director at Honda Racing Development. “It was good to see Rubens racing so hard and collecting some good points for the team. Both drivers have a fresh engine this week, with the newest, more powerful specification. We will have a countermeasure in place for the problem on Jenson's engine at the Nürburgring, and will be aiming to get closer to the front-runners."
"With just a week before Spain we will not have the benefit of testing," concludes de Ferran. "However we will be analysing last weekend’s performance in great detail with a view to finding some improvement going into Barcelona."
