12/05/2006
NEWS STORY
Honda Racing F1 Team third driver Anthony Davidson returned to his more familiar position at the top of the free practice timesheets today as he helped the team to prepare for Sunday's Spanish Grand Prix in Barcelona. Preserving most of their running for this afternoon's session, race drivers Jenson Button and Rubens Barrichello ended the day 8th and 9th.
Despite the fact that the team tests regularly at the Circuit de Catalunya, no two days are the same in terms of track conditions so it was business as usual with a full programme of tyre selection and set-up work. At what is a home from home for all of the drivers, today's top 11 were separated by just a second, which provides a strong indication that tomorrow's qualifying and Sunday's race will provide a closely-fought battle.
Anthony Davidson: "It feels really good to be back at the top of the timesheets. The car feels a lot better than it did in the first session but we still have a lot of work to do to get the best out of it for the race. For me, tyre evaluation was the name of the game. Our work today has paid off and we have some interesting results to look through tonight. A good start to the weekend I'd say."
Jenson Button: "It was very windy out there today and it's difficult to get a good balance in those conditions. There was also a lot of traffic which affected pretty much every lap. It's always very different to the test because the conditions change from day to day but the basic car balance is okay. There are a few things we need to work on tonight but generally I'm pleased with the start we've made to the weekend."
Rubens Barrichello: "We've had a pretty straightforward day today. We are still looking for our real race pace and that's what I focused on today because we know the car is quick in qualifying. It's looking good so far but we still have a lot of work to do to prepare for tomorrow and Sunday."
Gil de Ferran, Sporting Director: "It has been a pretty normal day for us with no major dramas. The track conditions this morning curtailed some of Anthony's running nevertheless we collected plenty of data from him. For the same reason we elected not to run this morning with the race drivers. Overall there are still some improvements we can make to the balance of the cars but a good start."
Shuhei Nakamoto, Management Board Member - Honda Racing F1 Team, Engineering Director - Honda Racing Development: "The engines ran without a problem and it was a solid start to the weekend. We have more work to do on set-up for both race drivers, but it is encouraging to see Anthony back in P1."
To check out our Barcelona practice gallery, click here