15/08/2004
NEWS STORY
Lucky Strike BAR Honda delivered another solid two-car points finish in today's Hungarian Grand Prix, as Jenson Button and his team-mate Takuma Sato brought their BAR Honda 006 race cars home fifth and sixth respectively. They were unable to fight for the team's target of a ninth podium this season but their seven-point haul at the Hungaroring has closed the gap to Renault in the Constructors' Championship to just eight points with five rounds remaining. The team now has 83 points whilst Jenson remains third in the Drivers' Championship with 65 points.
Jenson Button: "I'm a little bit disappointed because we came here expecting better things. I think we might not have put the best condition of tyres on at the first stop, so we lost a lot of time. I had a lot of oversteer which made it very difficult to drive and that's why Jarno was able to get so close to me. Once I made the decision to put a set of conditioned tyres on the balance was much better. My start was reasonable but I lost a couple of places to Alonso and Montoya, then I was able to get past Taku when he went a bit off-line. The main thing is that both cars finished in the points and we've edged that little bit closer to Renault in the Championship."
Takuma Sato: "I had a difficult start. I got off the line reasonably ok but at turn one I was outside Alonso, put a wheel off-line and into the dusty area. I lost traction and several cars managed to get by me over the next few corners as I lost momentum, so it was a tough opening lap. I did my best to recover then towards the end of the race we were a little bit concerned about falling oil pressure so we had to adapt. The most important thing though is that we got both cars to the finish in the points, so now we look forward to Spa."
David Richards, Team Principal: "We came here with the objective of consolidating our championship position and in fact we have edged a fraction closer to Renault; held station with Williams, and pulled away even further from McLaren. So we have to be pleased, even though the race itself was somewhat disappointing. However, we have achieved our second two car points finish in a row, and that is a much better performance than we have seen all season. With that in mind, and with five races to go, I have the feeling that we are going to be a strong contender all the way to the end however one can't help but admire and congratulate Ferrari for their superb performance. This serves as a stark reminder of how hard we have to work to get to the very top."
Geoffrey Willis, Technical Director: "The race result was pretty much determined by our poor starts with both cars losing several places by the end of the first lap. We did not get the best out of our Michelin tyres as well and are still learning the finer nuances of tuning them to the track conditions. However the team did well to get another solid result with both cars in the points and our position in the Constructors' Championship further improved."
Shuhei Nakamoto, Engineering Director, Honda Racing Development: "A solid if not spectacular weekend. We have closed the gap to Renault and maintained our lead over Williams. I am sure that Spa will be just as suited to our car so I am looking forward to Belgium very much. Congratulations to Ferrari - they have given us a lesson this year."