26/08/2007
NEWS STORY
The Honda Racing F1 Team's Jenson Button and Rubens Barrichello ended today's Turkish Grand Prix in 13th and 17th positions at the Istanbul Park circuit.
After the disappointment of lining up on the back row of the grid for the start of the race - the penalty for their pre-race engine changes - they set about taking advantage of a good strategy and tyre choices. Jenson's start was compromised by having to run wide into the first corner to avoid a spinning Jarno Trulli, but both drivers made good progress in the opening laps. During the course of the 58-lap race, Jenson overtook no fewer than 10 cars on the track and having lined up 21st on the grid he made up eight places to finish 13th.
Jenson Button: It was a lot of fun passing 10 cars! If you put to one side where we finished - because 13th position is still far from a good result - I think we had a reasonable race compared to the last one. I had a good time and was able to pass quite a few of the midfield competitors that we've been struggling to keep pace with in recent races. Obviously starting from the back of the grid is not something I want to have to repeat but we did a good job to fight for something better and I think the team can be pleased with our performance today.
Rubens Barrichello: Obviously today was always going to be difficult starting from the back of the field. The car was moving around quite a bit from corner to corner and there wasn't much I could do from where we started.
Jacky Eeckelaert, Engineering Director: Starting from the back row of the grid, it was never going to be an easy race today. However, Jenson drove a strong race, making best use of the car to progress from 21st to 13th position and overtaking 10 cars on the track. Rubens drove a steady race and was able to gain positions at the start due to the first-lap melée but after that, on his last two 'option' sets of tyres, too much understeer slowed him down and he finished P17.
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