Honda Racing F1 Team - Barcelona Test Report
BARCELONA, SPAIN 2 JUNE The Honda Racing F1 Team returned to the familiar location of the Circuit de Catalunya in Barcelona this week for a three-day test in preparation for next weekend's British Grand Prix. A comprehensive tyre programme for the Silverstone race, along with chassis set-up work and running the latest specification engine were the main test items this week. Race drivers Jenson Button and Rubens Barrichello, along with Anthony Davidson and James Rossiter, were all in attendance as the team completed the final preparations for the first of its two home races of the season. Heavy rain on the first morning of the test on Wednesday prevented any running until 11.00am when Jenson and Rubens were able to go out on extreme wet tyres to complete a small number of laps. With the circuit completely dry for the afternoon's running, Jenson worked on a chassis set-up programme completing 102 laps. Rubens ran through an aero evaluation, followed by a tyre programme, to complete 110 laps. With the weather returning to more typical Spanish sunshine on Thursday, both Jenson and Rubens focused on tyre evaluations looking at the options for the British Grand Prix, alongside aero programmes in their respective cars. Jenson completed 109 laps over the day, with Rubens completing 98 laps after losing a small amount of time to an early afternoon engine change. Anthony and James took over the driving responsibilities for the final day of the test on Friday. Anthony spent the day focusing on chassis set-up work and further tyre programmes, looking at the best of the options from the previous two days. He finished the day with a short aero run, completing 139 laps despite a spin at turn four which cost him some time. James lost much of his morning running after going off at turn four early in the session; however he went back out after lunch to work through an aero evaluation and chassis set-up work, completing 105 laps. Jenson Button "The test went well this week. We did our normal tyre testing programme for the British Grand Prix next weekend which was very useful. We also looked at set-up work to resolve the issues we experienced in Monaco, and focused on finding a set-up which is consistent. We did a great deal of work this week and I think we are getting the maximum out of the car that we can at the moment." Rubens Barrichello "Once again we were able to complete a lot of laps this week, and only the engine problem caused us to lose a little time. We spent the first day of the test checking out tyres and some set-up work. On Thursday we were able to look at some changes on the mechanical side of the car and I quite liked the results that we found. Overall I think the two days in Barcelona have been quite useful. The times were maybe not so impressive but we know where we stand, and I feel quite comfortable going to the British Grand Prix." Anthony Davidson "We covered 139 laps today which was good as the car was reliable yet again and we took the engine to above its target mileage. We completed some valuable tyre testing for Silverstone next weekend and also looked at different aero evaluations finding some promising results." James Rossiter "I made a small mistake this morning which unfortunately compromised our programme for the day. However we recovered well and ended up getting in a good number of laps and finding some useful items for the forthcoming races." Mark Ellis - Chief Engineer Vehicle Performance "We have had quite a positive week, covering a lot of laps, working through set-up options and tyre development programmes ahead of next weekend's British Grand Prix. Both Rubens and Jenson are happy with the work that we have achieved this week and we have collected a lot of data which will be used to hone forthcoming developments." Shuhei Nakamoto Management Board Member - Honda Racing F1 Team, Engineering Director - Honda Racing Development "This week has been useful in giving us the data that we need to decide on the final engine specification for Silverstone. We will make our decisions after analysing all the information over the weekend." TEST STATS Drivers Chassis Wednesday 31 May Thursday 1 June Friday 2 June Jenson Button RA106-02 102 laps Fastest lap 01:15.523 109 laps Fastest lap 01:15.581 - Rubens Barrichello RA106-06 110 laps Fastest lap 01:16.170 98 laps Fastest lap 01:15.765 - Anthony Davidson RA106-02 - - 139 laps Fastest lap 01:15.609 James Rossiter RA106-06 - - 105 laps Fastest lap 01:15.629