Davidson on top this afternoon
The Honda Racing F1 Team took to the track in Barcelona today to begin its preparations for the Spanish Grand Prix. As is usual for the team during Friday practice, third driver Anthony Davidson did the bulk of the mileage.
The track was still damp when the morning session kicked off, with a dry line only appearing after 20 minutes. Anthony then took to the track and completed 24 laps while honing the set-up of his RA106. His lap times improved steadily throughout the session and he set the fifth fastest time.
Neither Jenson Button nor Rubens Barrichello completed a flying lap during the morning. Both drivers elected to preserve their cars and engines for Saturday and Sunday, and they completed just one installation lap each.
By the start of the afternoon session, the ambient and track temperatures had increased to 22 and 44 degrees respectively. Anthony took to the track immediately and quickly found a rhythm around the 2.875-mile track. He set the fastest lap of the session, a 1:16.533s, during the course of his 38 laps.
Jenson and Rubens were eighth and ninth fastest in session two, separated by just 0.003s. They completed 28 laps between them and made steady progress with their car set-ups.
Both race drivers know the Circuit de Catalunya well from winter testing and they hope that its fast, sweeping nature will play to the strengths of the RA106 during the 66-lap race on Sunday.
Anthony Davidson “It feels really good to be back at the top of the timesheets. The car feels a lot better than it did in the first session but we still have a lot of work to do to get the best out of it for the race. For me, tyre evaluation was the name of the game. Our work today has paid off and we have some interesting results to look through tonight. A good start to the weekend I’d say.”
Jenson Button “It was very windy out there today and it’s difficult to get a good balance in those conditions. There was also a lot of traffic which affected pretty much every lap. It’s always very different to the test because the conditions change from day to day but the basic car balance is okay. There are a few things we need to work on tonight but generally I’m pleased with the start we’ve made to the weekend.”
Rubens Barrichello “We’ve had a pretty straightforward day today. We are still looking for our real race pace and that’s what I focused on today because we know the car is quick in qualifying. It’s looking good so far but we still have a lot of work to do to prepare for tomorrow and Sunday.”
