28/07/2006
NEWS STORY
The Honda Racing F1 Team's German Grand Prix got off to a solid start at Hockenheim today. The team's RA106 was competitive in both one-hour practice sessions, which provides a good baseline for the rest of the weekend's race preparations.
All three drivers were out on track during both sessions, although it was Anthony Davidson, the Honda Racing F1 Team's third driver, who did the bulk of the running this morning.
This afternoon, a brief rain shower meant that the track was too wet for dry tyres and too dry for wets, so the drivers waited for the shower to pass before they got down to business. Rubens and Jenson completed 13 laps each and focused on long runs.
Anthony Davidson: "A difficult day here at Hockenheim. The weather conditions made it hard work for everyone in the second session then when it started to dry out we had to quickly do our tyre programme. It was a little bit scrappy for everybody but thankfully there was just enough time to choose the tyre that we think will work well for the rest of the weekend. The first session went well for me. I had a nice balance and I think our long run pace looks really good so I'm confident for a good race here."
Rubens Barrichello: "We weren't able to complete all the running we had planned but I think we are looking a little more competitive than we were at the last race. However, it's only Friday. There's a long way to go yet and it's too early to draw any firm conclusions. At this stage though I'm feeling good about the car and I hope this will continue through the rest of the weekend."
Jenson Button: "Generally a good start to the weekend. The rain shower made life a little bit difficult but apart from that the car is working well so far. We'll just have to wait and see how the rest of the weekend pans out."
Gil de Ferran, Sporting Director: "Despite the changing weather and less running than we had originally planned, we were able to gather a lot of information about the performance of our car and tyres today. We are quite satisfied with our results so far, as we look reasonably competitive on short and long runs. I envisage a long night ahead looking at all the data and hopefully making decisions that will further improve our performance tomorrow."
To check out our Hockenheim practice gallery, click here