HONDA F1

Jenson Button and Rubens Barrichello discuss the Istanbul Park circuit, venue for next weekend’s Turkish Grand Prix.

Round five of the 2008 FIA Formula One World Championship takes the Honda Racing F1 Team to Istanbul for the Turkish GP. The 58-lap race, which takes place at the 5.338km (3.317mile) Istanbul Park circuit; one of only two anti-clockwise tracks on this year’s calendar. It’s a circuit that all drivers agree is both challenging and entertaining.

“The Turkish Grand Prix is one of my favourite races on the calendar,” says Jenson, “and I’ve had a couple of good results here in 2005 and 2006, finishing in the top five on both occasions. The track layout is excellent with the changes in elevation making it a tough but enjoyable circuit for the drivers. There are some really good overtaking opportunities at turn one and turn three, with a chance of passing into turns nine and twelve if you get it right.”

This solution, debuted in Spain, is Honda's radical-looking interpretation of the nose winglets introduced by BMW Sauber to optimise the car's balance. They don't generate significant downforce, but instead help divert airflow horizontally, improving the quality of the airflow directed to the car's rear end and to its sidepod inlets. Honda, like BMW Sauber, have followed the common fashion this year of dramatically narrowing the lower section of the sidepods, reducing both the cross-sectional area of the inlets and the surface area of the radiators within. This reduction makes the effective channelling of airflow into the inlets even more crucial for effective cooling.

I think there was a lot of bad luck for Jenson early on.. no testing time with the new aero package resulted in poor qualifying performance, then he was stuck behind his team mate which pretty much precluded him from showing any pace (assuming of course that he had any), then he was unlucky with the safety car.. after that he got his two points by showing excellent pace (fifth fastest lap) and great pit lane service. That and the fact that half the grid auto-destructed which is a rare thing indeed in Barcelona.

Rubens had an okay, if uneventful race safe for the unlucky safety car phase.. before the front wing episode. I'm not sure what happened there. ITV said that Ruben's wing was damaged before he ran into Fisi; someone on the board suggests that it was the pit crew that let him out too early. I just don't know.

Fair on unfair, the end result is of course once again that Jens got the points and Rubens did not.. and the pressure on Rubens is increasing again.

Honda driver Jenson Button believes that his putenfinish yeastraday in the GP of Spain is onlythe beginning of a long series of good results for Honda.The Englishman was sixth,but there was,according to its own figures,more seated.The second safety car period threw soot in the eating.Moreover,the RA108 not be well suited to the circuit in Barcelona.

Team Principal Ross Brawn was delighted that the team now has its first points this season: “It is just reward after the tremendous efforts made by everyone. We have made a good step forward with the new upgrade package and today’s result reflects all the hard work that the team have put into developing the car since the start of the season.

“We are making good progress, which is encouraging for the rest of the season and for the future. I really feel that all elements of the team, chassis and engine are beginning to gel. We have a number of smaller developments to introduce over the next few races, to tailor the package to the varying characteristics of the forthcoming circuits, and at the same time we will be working hard on the development of our next substantial upgrade for Silverstone.”

The Honda Racing F1 Team scored its first World Championship points of the season in today’s Spanish Grand Prix, when Jenson Button finished sixth. A tenacious drive from the Briton, plus some astute strategy calls from the pitwall, saw him climb through the field from 13th position on the grid.