2005 Malaysian GP Friday Practice
B.A.R Honda Friday 18 March 2005 RAISING THE B.A.R A promising first day of practice for B.A.R Honda bodes well for Sunday’s Malaysian Grand Prix. ------------------------------------------------ Jenson Button and Takuma Sato got the Malaysian Grand Prix weekend off to a promising start for Lucky Strike B.A.R Honda today when they finished this afternoon’s free practice session in 8th and 14th positions respectively. The B.A.R Honda 007s are equipped with some aerodynamic developments for this race – the team having tested them successfully in Europe last week - and the early signals are that the 007s handling has been greatly improved since the Australian Grand Prix a fortnight ago. Both drivers reported greater consistency over long runs, as well as improved pace over a single lap. Jenson’s fastest lap of 1:35.992s this afternoon was just 0.3s off Felipe Massa, who sat at the top of the time sheets. The team’s on-track programme revolved around comparing the two compounds of tyre that its technical partner Michelin has brought to the race, as well as refining set-up to suit the new aero parts. Such is the abrasiveness of the Sepang asphalt that the team expects tyre wear to be more critical at this race than at the season-opening race in Australia. Early on, the track surface was very dusty and the gravel traps claimed their fair share of victims, including Kimi Raikkonen and Rubens Barrichello. Conditions improved as more rubber was laid down and the most meaningful work was carried out towards the end of session two when track conditions had started to stabilise. As expected, the weather conditions were excruciatingly hot, with the air temperature peaking at 39 degrees and the track temperature at 55 degrees. For the drivers this meant cockpit temperatures of more than 50 degrees, but they have trained hard since Australia to prepare for such an energy-sapping environment. JENSON BUTTON “The first day of running here is always a bit of a body shock with the temperature inside the cockpit reaching well over 50°C. All in all I think we’ve made a good start to the weekend. We’ve had quite a productive day, completing all of the testing that we planned to and focusing on tyre comparisons and aerodynamic adjustments. We’ve gathered a lot of data which we’ll look over this evening and I think we should expect another positive day tomorrow.” TAKUMA SATO "It was good to get as many laps in as we planned today without any car issues. I had to back off a bit on my quick laps because of the yellow flags but generally the car balance was good and we have some valuable data for the tyres. It was really hot inside the cockpit so it is going to be a tough race on Sunday, but we are looking good so far." GEOFFREY WILLIS, TECHNICAL DIRECTOR “This is a positive start to the weekend. We had two good sessions today with both cars completing our planned programme. The cars are working well with the very high track temperatures and we have been pleased with our consistently good performance throughout the sessions. These high temperatures are tough on the drivers but we do not have any concerns with cooling of the engine or other car systems. We look forward to another positive day tomorrow.” SHUHEI NAKAMOTO, ENGINEERING DIRECTOR, HONDA RACING DEVELOPMENT “A fairly solid start to the weekend. No particular problems despite the heat and slippery track, a good number of laps, and reasonable times in a closely bunched field.” Friday Practice 1 1 Ricardo Zonta (Toyota) 1:34.092 2 Pedro de la Rosa (McLaren-Mercedes) 1:35.144 3 Vitantonio Liuzzi (Red Bull Racing) 1:35.691 4 Michael Schumacher (Ferrari) 1:36.011 5 Jenson Button (B.A.R Honda) 1:36.513 6 Nick Heidfeld (Williams-BMW) 1:36.551 7 Kimi Räikkönen (McLaren-Mercedes) 1:36.563 8 Juan Pablo Montoya (McLaren-Mercedes) 1:36.610 9 Felipe Massa (Sauber-Petronas) 1:36.963 10 Mark Webber (Williams-BMW) 1:36.989 13 Takuma Sato (B.A.R Honda) 1:37.366 Friday Practice 2 1 Felipe Massa (Sauber-Petronas) 1:35.608 2 Juan Pablo Montoya (McLaren-Mercedes) 1:35.620 3 Ricardo Zonta (Toyota) 1:35.677 4 Kimi Räikkönen (McLaren-Mercedes) 1:35.719 5 Ralf Schumacher (Toyota) 1:35.838 6 Giancarlo Fisichella (Renault) 1:35.841 7 Rubens Barrichello (Ferrari) 1:35.949 8 Jenson Button (B.A.R Honda) 1:35.992 9 Fernando Alonso (Renault) 1:36.103 10 David Coulthard (Red Bull Racing) 1:36.575 14 Takuma Sato (B.A.R Honda) 1:37.044 ------------------------------------------------ For further information and photos go to B.A.R Honda