15/09/2007
NEWS STORY
The Honda Racing F1 Team's Jenson Button and Rubens Barrichello will line up on the seventh and ninth rows of the grid for the start of tomorrow's 44-lap Belgian Grand Prix. Both drivers continued to face balance issues with their RA107s during today's one hour qualifying session, however Jenson was able to progress through to Q2 where he ended the session in 14th position. He gains one place on the grid as a result of Kubica's engine penalty and will start 13th. Rubens ended the day in 18th place.
Jenson Button: A reasonably positive Saturday. On the first run in Q1 I had traffic as I was running too close to the car in front of me. In Q2 I think I got the best out of the car on the first run. On the second run I had a little too much understeer so I just backed off and looked after the tyres for the race. I'm pretty happy with where I will be lining up on the grid and I think we can make progress from there. Aerodynamically this circuit hasn't really suited our car so I'm quite pleased with how qualifying went for us. I'm looking forward to the race.
Rubens Barrichello: Since the beginning of the weekend we have been struggling with the aerodynamic balance of the car. We just don't have enough aerodynamic efficiency here. On my last run I requested more front wing and the car just gave me more understeer, so we need to understand the data. Obviously it will be a battle from 18th position but we will see what the race brings in order to try to improve.
Jacky Eeckelaert, Engineering Director: Jenson had a good Q1 and easily made it through into the second session, where he got the maximum from the car. Had he had a touch less understeer then perhaps we could have improved a little but overall it was a good lap and his is a reasonable position from which to be going into the race tomorrow. In free practice this morning Rubens struggled a little to find the right balance. After some set-up changes he found a better car for his first run in Q1. Q2 was a real possibility for him but in his second run he also had too much understeer which compromised his chances.
To check out our Spa Qualifying gallery, click here