2005 Malaysian GP Race
B.A.R Honda Press Information Sunday 20 March 2005 MISFORTUNE IN MALAYSIA Drama for B.A.R Honda in Kuala Lumpur ------------------------------------------------ Two engine failures early in the Malaysian Grand Prix ended the races of Lucky Strike B.A.R Honda drivers Jenson Button and Anthony Davidson. Both failures were caused by oil fires. The cars retired almost simultaneously, but not before both drivers had proved their points-scoring potential in the gruelling heat and humidity of Kuala Lumpur. B.A.R Honda Chief Executive Officer Nick Fry said, “The team has worked incredibly hard between Melbourne and Malaysia, developing improvements that would have put us in a points-scoring or podium position today. I would like to thank them and I can only apologise to everyone, including the drivers, our fans and partners, that we were not able to make best use of a fast car and good strategy.” Jenson started the race ninth and drove a very aggressive opening lap to be sixth by the start of lap two, having pulled a brilliant move on Kimi Raikkonen. Anthony, who was driving his first race for B.A.R Honda in light of Takuma Sato’s viral infection, also made a good start. He was jostling for what could have been a strong points finish when he too was forced to retire. Fernando Alonso went on to win the race and took the lead in the World Championship. Jarno Trulli and Nick Heidfeld finished second and third, in a race that saw just 13 of the 20 starters take the chequered flag. B.A.R Honda now heads to the Paul Ricard circuit in France for an intensive two-car test session. One car will conduct reliability testing while the other will continue to focus on aerodynamic improvements for the next race in Bahrain. JENSON BUTTON - DNF (2 Laps) “It goes without saying that I’m incredibly disappointed and frustrated. I felt I was one of the quickest cars on the circuit – our pace was so strong that I was easily able to take the Red Bull cars and then get close enough to Raikkonen to pass him. In light of how our strategy would have played out versus the competition we’ve let ourselves down today. I’m disappointed for myself, for Anthony in his first race for us and also the team who’ve worked so hard all weekend in extremely tough conditions. We have to sort this out in time for Bahrain.” ANTHONY DAVIDSON - DNF (2 Laps) “It’s so disappointing to end my first race for the team like this. It’s been a challenging weekend and I’d like to thank the team and my physio for all their help in getting me ready to race here. It’s just a shame that we weren’t able to see the hard work come to fruition. It looks like we have a lot of work to do in testing next week, when we’ll work to ensure the problem is put right for Bahrain.” GEOFFREY WILLIS, TECHNICAL DIRECTOR “This was a bitterly disappointing end to our race weekend, particularly since Jenson got such a good start and was easily making places in the early laps. The car was handling well and we were confident that our race pace and strategy would bring very good results. It was also very disappointing for Anthony who, having stepped into the car at short notice, did such an excellent job but was deprived of an opportunity to race.” SHUHEI NAKAMOTO, ENGINEERING DIRECTOR, HONDA RACING DEVELOPMENT “We’re sorry to the team and drivers about the engine problems. At the moment we think it is the same problem as yesterday. We will be getting a countermeasure in place in time for the Bahrain Grand Prix.”