28/05/2006
NEWS STORY
Rubens Barrichello brought home five championship points today at the end of a tough Monaco Grand Prix for the Honda Racing F1 Team. He got a good start on heavy fuel, holding 5th position off the grid, and maintained a solid performance throughout the 78-lap race. Rubens enjoyed a thrilling battle with Jarno Trulli for much of the race and a superbly executed pit stop on lap 46 meant the Brazilian rejoined the action ahead of Trulli. Rubens battled with oversteer but pushed hard and was challenging for a podium position until he was given a drive-through penalty for speeding in the pit lane. He closed in on David Coulthard, finishing only a second behind despite losing 13 seconds as he took the penalty.
On the other side of the garage it was a long hard afternoon for Jenson Button. He never really recovered from his 13th position on the grid and came home in 11th place.
Rubens Barrichello: "4th is a good points finish and my best so far this season but I'm disappointed because I was looking good for 3rd today. It was a tough race and I didn't feel competitive at all. I was carrying a lot of fuel but I did a good job to keep pace because I was really struggling with the balance of the car. It was obviously a huge blow to be called in for the drive-through penalty because I was sure the limiter light was on. I'm really very upset for the team and for myself because it would have been an extra point, but more than that, my first podium of the year. The guys did a great job all weekend, especially for us to qualify well on such a lot of fuel and I thank them for that."
Jenson Button: "After qualifying where we did yesterday, this was always going to be a struggle for me. I lost rear tyre grip and had to stop a lot earlier than I wanted to because of that. At the stop we put scrubbed tyres on and took a lot of front wing off. After that the car was doing okay. All in all, this was definitely a race to forget for me but at least we are taking away a lot of information. Even though Rubens was fourth today we certainly didn't get the best out of the car this weekend and we still have a lot of work to do to catch up with the front runners."
Gil de Ferran, Sporting Director: "An extremely tough afternoon full of highs and lows. Both drivers were struggling with the balance of the car throughout the race, nevertheless due to Rubens' good grid position, he eventually found himself in a podium position. Of course we were devastated with Rubens' drive-through penalty, although 4th place is his best result with our team so far. Jenson was unable to recover from the low grid position, especially given the handling difficulties we were having."
Shuhei Nakamoto, Management Board Member - Honda Racing F1 Team, Engineering Director - Honda Racing Development: "Rubens battled hard today and nearly achieved a podium finish for us. Monaco has always proved to be a tough race on the cars and engines and I am pleased we got both engines to the end of their second races."
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