Honda aims for points in Canada
The Honda Racing F1 Team heads to the lively city of Montreal this week for the Canadian Grand Prix, the first of the two North American races, with the United States Grand Prix at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway following just one week later.
Honda Canada is once again a major sponsor of the Canadian Grand Prix and will have a significant presence over the race weekend with activities at Crescent Street in downtown Montreal and at Honda World, a spectacular circuit-based exhibition designed to bring race fans closer to Honda’s innovations in the environment, safety and technology.
Shuhei Nakamoto, Senior Technical Director “We are pleased that the RA107 is continuing to show positive signs as a result of all the team’s hard work. At the last race in Monaco, the drivers were able to appreciate the improvements and take the most performance possible out of the car. However the next race in Canada is a completely different challenge and downforce levels are very different, so we have to set the car up to suit the specific demands of this track. At the Paul Ricard test, we found a good set-up on the Montreal configured circuit, which we hope will translate well to the race weekend. We are continuing to develop the car, not only in terms of new aero parts but also mechanical improvements. Although we have not had the opportunity to test since Monaco, we will keep pushing as hard as possible for the North American races.”
Jenson Button "The Canadian Grand Prix is one of my favourite races on the F1 calendar. Montreal is a fantastic city and the atmosphere over the race weekend is amazing. The Canadians are huge Formula One fans and Montreal puts on a terrific street parade. The key to a quick lap around the circuit is being able to ride the kerbs and you need to have a car which can do this comfortably. You have to be precise because if you hit the kerbs in the wrong place, then you’ll probably end up in the wall. The biggest challenge is getting the last chicane before the pits just right. You can have a perfect lap all the way round but if you hit those kerbs badly, it will throw you off. Getting off the grid cleanly is also important as the first couple of corners are very tight with all 22 cars trying to squeeze through, although you can overtake here if the opportunity presents itself. The hairpin at turn ten is probably the best opportunity for overtaking and where you can see some pretty exciting racing.”
Rubens Barrichello “Montreal is a great circuit and I really enjoy racing there. The track is quite challenging with long straights and hard-braking corners, so it is completely different from the last race in Monaco. We will set the car up with a medium-low downforce level to maximise the long straights. We prepared well for this event at the Paul Ricard test a few weeks ago and the critical thing for the team will be to make sure that we get the very best out of the performance that we have available.”
