Barrichello shines at home
Hometown hero Rubens Barrichello enjoyed one of his best qualifying sessions of the year at Interlagos this afternoon. He will start tomorrow’s Brazilian Grand Prix from 11th position, after missing out on a Q3 slot by less than 0.05s.
Jenson Button, in the other RA107, had a more troubled session as he continued to struggle with a lack of grip. He will line up in 16th position on tomorrow’s grid.
Hot weather conditions at Interlagos this afternoon (air 32 degrees, track 57 degrees) resulted in slower than expected lap times as the tyres struggled for grip on the circuit’s new asphalt. In general, lap times were 0.5s slower than in this morning’s final practice session.
Both Honda Racing F1 Team drivers completed two flying runs in Q1 and they managed to improve their lap times on each occasion. Rubens’ first effort placed him 11th, and although he improved by 0.2s on his second run, he ended the 15-minute session in 12th place. Jenson’s first run left him in the drop zone, but a heroic second lap saw him squeeze into Q2 by 0.02s.
Two more flying laps followed for both drivers in Q2 and, again, they improved with each lap. Rubens’ best was 1:12.932s (11th place), while Jenson still wasn’t happy with the balance of his car and his best lap was 1:13.469s (16th place).
The Honda Racing F1 Team will now make its final preparations ahead of tomorrow’s 71-lap race, in which Rubens will hope to score his first points of the season.
Rubens Barrichello “I am very pleased to have had a stronger weekend so far here at my home race but at the same time a little disappointed that we could not make it through to the final qualifying session today. The car felt very good this morning but this afternoon the rear was moving around a little too much so we lost a bit of time there. We got every last bit of performance out of the car today and I think we can have a good race from 11th."
Jenson Button “Not a great qualifying session for me today which reflects that we have been off the pace pretty much all weekend. The car has a consistent lack of grip and unfortunately we haven't been able to improve the set-up to overcome this. It will be a tough race from 16th so we will just have to see what opportunities the race presents.”
Jacky Eeckelaert, Engineering Director “This morning we were able to work on the car balance in dry conditions on both prime and option tyres. Rubens was immediately pleased with his set-up, while Jenson was unable to find a good balance through the lap. In qualifying it was disappointing for Rubens to miss out on a place in Q3 by less than 0.05s and to find Jenson still struggling with an unpredictable balance. The hotter ambient temperatures in the afternoon affected the car balance a little more than we anticipated but we will work to find a strategy that gives us the best possible chance in the final race of the season tomorrow.”
