Disappointing end to difficult season for Honda
The season finale at Interlagos ended in disappointment for the Honda Racing F1 Team. Jenson Button and Rubens Barrichello drove determined races before they were both forced to retire with engine failure.
The 71-lap Brazilian Grand Prix took place in scorching temperatures at the Interlagos circuit. The air temperature of 37°C created tough conditions for the drivers, whilst the track temperature reached a 61°C high, making tyre durability an issue.
Rubens and Jenson lined up in 11th and 16th positions on the grid and made good starts, however Rubens was handed a drive-through penalty for jumping the start. He took the penalty on lap eight whilst lying in 10th place, and rejoined in 17th position. He did well to battle back to 11th place on his home circuit but he was forced to retire on lap 41.
Jenson made up two places at the start and was running in 10th place when his engine lost power on lap 22 and he was forced to pull over.
The team will now take a brief break from the track before the challenge of 2008 begins in earnest with the start of its winter development programme. Every resource at the team’s disposal will now be focused on next year’s World Championship campaign, which begins in only four months’ time.
Rubens Barrichello “A disappointing end to a very hard season for us. Our position wasn’t looking too bad before I came in to make my second stop but unfortunately there was an engine problem and that ended my race early. I would like to say thank you to the whole team for the effort they have put in this year. It was been a very difficult experience but the team has done a lot of growing together and we will work very hard over the winter to improve our situation for next year."
Jenson Button “Not a great end to the season for us. We had a problem with the engine overheating in the very high temperatures. We have to look forward now, put the experience of this year behind us and focus on 2008. I would like to thank the whole team for the commitment that they have shown this year. It hasn’t been easy for anyone but we have stuck together as a team and worked so hard to take something from every race. I would also like to say a special thank you to my physio Phil Young who has been with me at every race for seven years and is now moving to a new life in Australia."
Jacky Eeckelaert, Engineering Director “First of all congratulations to the new World Champion! Unfortunately our race was less successful. With our race strategy both drivers might have been in points contention today. Despite the fact that the car balance was a little too much on the understeer side, the lap times were competitive for both Rubens and Jenson. Unfortunately both retired early in the race with engine failure before we were able to capitalise on the strategy."
