Strong performance of Button gives Honda high hopes for the race
The first wet qualifying session of the year produced mixed fortunes for the Honda Racing F1 Team at Fuji Speedway. Rubens Barrichello was bumped out of the session after Q1, while Jenson Button’s smooth driving style suited the conditions and he qualified in seventh position. He will start the race from sixth position.
With today’s rain came mist and fog, with the result that this morning’s final one-hour practice session was cancelled due to poor visibility. That resulted in none of the teams having any wet weather practice at the track prior to the start of the session.
Jenson and Rubens both completed 10 laps each in Q1. Jenson’s first flying lap of 1:32.074 was more than 14 seconds slower than his fastest time in the dry yesterday. During the course of the 15-minute session he shaved six seconds off that time to end up in 10th place.
Rubens made progress throughout the session as well, but his fastest time of 1:27.323s placed him 17th and forced him to sit out the remainder of the session.
Jenson completed 10 more laps in Q2 and further improved the set-up of his RA107. The track started to dry at this point and he was able to lap 1.2s quicker than in Q1. He ended the session in sixth position and made it through to Q3 for the third time this year.
In Q3 he completed 11 more laps and set the seventh fastest time. However, an engine change and subsequent 10-place grid penalty for Nico Rosberg will see Jenson start the race from sixth place, which will be his highest grid position of the year.
Jenson Button "I love these wet conditions! A really good qualifying session today and I am obviously pleased that we put in a strong performance at our home race and in front of all the Honda fans here at Fuji. They were pretty tough conditions out there with the track getting greasy towards the end and it was difficult to know which tyres to be on. The team did a great job in deciding our strategy and we definitely got the best of the car in Q1 and Q2. The third session was more difficult as we were running our race fuel levels but I'm happy to have qualified seventh but be starting from sixth on the grid tomorrow. The driver can really make a difference in these conditions so we will be hoping for a wet race as we have a great starting position and there is everything to play for at this end of the grid. I'm really looking forward to the race tomorrow and if it is wet then we have a chance to score some points."
Rubens Barrichello "I am very frustrated to have lost the chance to go into the second qualifying session by only 0.1sec today. The car was capable of a lot more performance in these wet conditions. Nevertheless I am happy for the team as Jenson did a good job today. It will be a challenging race from here but this track does have some overtaking opportunities so I will put up a good fight to do my best in the team's home race."
Jacky Eeckelaert, Engineering Director "In free practice this morning both Jenson and Rubens did only two laps on extreme-wets and reported that the wet track had good grip on those tyres. Then the session was aborted and we went straight into qualifying. This session was wet again and we decided to go for the wet tyres as with 22 cars on the track, the standing water would disappear quickly and then the extreme wet would probably overheat within just a few laps. Rubens was competitive at the start of the session but at the end of Q1, when the track became faster, he had a moment in turn five and did not make it through to Q2. Jenson progressed easily from Q1 to Q3. In the last session he qualified in an excellent seventh position but we are obviously even more pleased that he will be starting from P6 on the grid tomorrow due to Rosberg's engine change penalty."
