Performance of RA107 far from what expected

The Honda Racing F1 Team experienced a difficult qualifying session in Melbourne today as the Formula One teams prepare for tomorrow’s season-opening Australian Grand Prix. Jenson Button ended the day 14th whilst team-mate Rubens Barrichello was knocked-out during the first of the three sessions and will line up 17th for the 58-lap race.

Jenson Button:
Saturday Practice: P17 1:28.119
Qualifying 1: P15 01:27.540 | Qualifying 2: P14 01:27.264 | Qualifying 3: –
“It hasn’t been a good weekend for us so far. Today it was difficult to judge how hard to push the tyres. At the start of the lap I was getting understeer because the tyres were not up to temperature, then later in the lap I was getting oversteer as the rears were going off, which just show the issues that we have. I got the best out of the car today and right now we are where we are. We’ll obviously do what we can for the race then we have some work to do to start addressing the issues we have identified.”

Rubens Barrichello:
Saturday Practice: P15 1:28.039
Qualifying 1: P17 01:27.679 | Qualifying 2: – | Qualifying 3: –
"I was expecting that we would compete in the second session today so I’m disappointed by our performance in qualifying. I had a problem right from the start with the car bottoming out much more than it has been at any other point over the weekend. That is something we have to look at for the race tomorrow. It was very close at the end of the first session with so many cars fighting to get through but unfortunately we just couldn’t make it this time."

Jacky Eeckleaert, Engineering Director “We are obviously disappointed with the results from today’s qualifying. The performance of the RA107 is far from where we want and expect it to be. The drivers got the most of the car that they could today. We are working flat out at the factory to improve the car for the coming races.”