Honda concludes final European winter test
The Honda Racing F1 Team concluded a three-day test at the Circuit de Catalunya in Barcelona today. Running with two RA107 chassis for the first time, race drivers Jenson Button and Rubens Barrichello conducted the majority of the test programme, supported by Christian Klien.
Rubens and Christian began the test on Monday completing early set-up runs to establish a good baseline for the cars. Rubens then worked through general set-up items in the new chassis over 27 laps, with Christian focusing on aerodynamic evaluations and covering 51 laps.
Jenson joined the test on Tuesday to take over from Christian. Along with Rubens, the pair spent the day focusing on chassis set-up and aero evaluations, with Jenson completing 91 laps and Rubens 87 laps.
The two race drivers continued their running on Wednesday. Jenson completed 98 laps as he evaluated the set-up of the car over longer tyre runs. An exhaust problem which damaged the bodywork in Rubens’ chassis brought his running to an early conclusion after 39 laps.
The team’s test programme will now move to Bahrain next week for two final tests before the F1 season begin in Australia on 18 March.
Jenson Button: “We spent a lot of time this week working on the set-up and balance of the car. We have made some improvements and I believe that we now have a much better understanding of the car and aerodynamics. We still have a lot of work to do before the first race and it will be important to make every day count. I am confident that we can make the right steps to put us in the position that we want to be in.”
Rubens Barrichello: “It has been a mixed week for me this week as my first day was affected by the rain and then we had the issue with the car today so I haven’t been able to cover the laps that we were planning. However Jenson had a better time putting mileage on the car so we could still progress. So I am now looking forward to two weeks of testing in the hot weather of Bahrain where we should get a better understanding of how we are progressing compared to the competition.”
Christian Klien: “It was good to be able to drive the new car this week. Unfortunately the weather was not so kind on my day of running with rain in the afternoon session but we were still able to complete some good laps. We do have areas to improve upon and I am sure that the new parts which we have coming will help us to move further forward in Bahrain.”
Jacky Eeckelaert, Engineering Director: “For the last European winter test this week, we had two RA107 cars on hand. Additionally we had a number of new parts to evaluate before we run our final package for the first race of the season in Bahrain next week. Once again we focused on finding a good balance over the longer runs, particularly during the warmer conditions of the afternoon session. Unfortunately Rubens was unable to complete his planned race simulation this afternoon due to a broken exhaust, the damage from which required a long repair.”
