09/09/2006
NEWS STORY
The Honda Racing F1 Team's Jenson Button and Rubens Barrichello made it through to the final qualifying session in Monza today, in which they posted the 6th and 9th fastest laps respectively. They will line up on the 3rd and 5th rows of the grid for the start of tomorrow's 53 lap Italian Grand Prix.
With both drivers feeling comfortable with the car's long run pace this bodes well for tomorrow when the team will be targeting its third consecutive double points finish.
Jenson Button: "I'm really pleased with how qualifying has gone today. We were a little bit apprehensive because we didn't get to run any new tyres in free practice this morning and when I went out in qualifying one there was a red flag, so we still hadn't run any new tyres by the end of that session. I got through Q1 and Q2 though and in Q3 the long run pace was very good, which bodes well for tomorrow. On one lap we still couldn't get a strong lap out of the car until my last qualy run when I put it 6th on the grid. I'm happy. I got everything I could out of the car and the most important thing is that we know we are competitive for the race, so a similar story to Turkey really."
Rubens Barrichello: "Qualifying went well today considering that I didn't do any running on Friday, so a top ten finish with both cars is pretty good. Our race pace is good and I think we're quite confident with the strategy, so I'm looking forward to tomorrow."
Gil de Ferran, Sporting Director: "Today was a much better day. Both cars ran well this morning and, as predicted, were handling well despite our lack of running so far this weekend. In qualifying both drivers did a great job to comfortably make it through to the last qualifying round and get the most out of the car in Q3. We suspect there are a variety of strategies at play for tomorrow with tyres and fuel. Our car is working well in race trim and we look forward to a good race."
To check out our Italy qualifying gallery, click here