11/06/2006
NEWS STORY
A frustrating British Grand Prix weekend for the Honda Racing F1 Team came to a disappointing conclusion today after Jenson Button retired in front of his home crowd and team-mate Rubens Barrichello finished outside of the points.
After starting from 19th on the grid, Jenson was putting on a great show for the fans as he carved his way through the field. He had moved up to 12th place within just 9 laps before his RA106 racecar suffered an engine oil leak. Rubens also endured a tough race, struggling with the balance from the start and eventually finishing in 10th place.
The team now heads to Monza next week for a 3-day test in preparation for the Canadian Grand Prix in two weeks' time.
Jenson Button: "The race was going well for me and the car felt pretty good. We weren't as quick as the leaders but the car was working well and had a good balance. I was absolutely loving it out there, working my way through the field, and given our fuel load I was doing pretty well. Then I saw the flames out of the back of the car and went off due to oil on the tyres, so it is looking like an engine oil leak unfortunately. A disappointing end to the weekend really, especially in front of my home crowd. It's frustrating that I couldn't give them the race they deserved today. When I walked back in it was quite emotional as there were lots of cheers and flags being waved. The fans' support this weekend has been fantastic. As for the next race, the important thing is to get the best out of what we have which we weren't able to do here this weekend."
Rubens Barrichello: "I'm really disappointed to finish 10th after starting from a reasonably good grid slot. The car works well with new tyres and then the performance just goes away during the race and I just seem to be fighting the car the whole time. We have a lot of hard work to do if we are going to close the gap to the top teams because it's very frustrating right now and the car is too far away from where we should be."
Gil de Ferran: Sporting Director: "Overall this was a difficult day for the whole team. Jenson had a very strong start to his race, making up several places until his eventual retirement early in the race with an oil leak. Rubens also had a hard afternoon, struggling with the car balance throughout the race. Clearly not the result we were hoping for and we have some homework to do."
Shuhei Nakamoto, Management Board Member - Honda Racing F1 Team, Engineering Director - Honda Racing Development: "I am obviously really disappointed by the way we have raced this weekend. We are not yet sure about the problem that ended Jenson's race but the engine itself is fine. It looks like there has been an oil leak somewhere so we have to analyse things deeply and find out the specific issue. We must work harder."
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