Jenson Button

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Dismal day for Honda

Honda's Rubens Barrichello ended today's Australian Grand Prix in 11th position after a determined fight throughout the 58-lap race. His team-mate Jenson Button struggled with the balance of his car, then a difficult day was compounded when he incurred a drive-through penalty for speeding in the pit lane approaching his first pit stop.

The team now heads to Malaysia for a three-day test at the Sepang circuit, where it will take advantage of the three-week break between races to complete important development work for the next round.

"Not a very good day or result unfortunately," moaned Button. "I was running heavy with fuel in the first stint and had to pit early because the car had a massive amount of understeer. At my first stop I requested front wing but because of a radio problem the team was unable to respond. When I pitted again, we had to put a lot of wing on but it didn't make any difference. So the problem may be in the front end aerodynamics. If that proves to be the case, then it is something we can certainly address straight away. Then of course I had the drive-through penalty which just compounded things. Going forward, once we know where our problems lie and what we need to do to fix them, we have three weeks and a test in between to start addressing them. Hopefully we will be able to demonstrate some improvement as early as the next race in Malaysia."

Barrichello commented, "I feel like we had a competitive race today, even though I finished outside of the points. The tyres were working well and our strategy also worked to our advantage. I was losing time behind Jenson in the first part of the race but that's the way racing goes. We have no team orders so I had to find my way past and go on from there. Apart from that, I thought we could quite possibly have scored points here. I think we got the best from the car today so we have shown that there is a lot of work to do to improve. At least we know where our problem is and we have some ideas on how to fix them. I'm sure we can make some progress before Malaysia."

Engineering director Jacky Eeckelaert added, "On a positive note, both cars ran reliably today. Rubens drove a strong race from 17th on the grid to 11th place, less than nine seconds outside of the points. Jenson's car balance was not good at any stage of the race, which we believe to be a front end aero problem. On top of that, a drive-through penalty made him lose several places. We now have to improve our race pace as we target points-scoring positions. We have three weeks between the races and we will do everything we can to give our drivers a more competitive car at the next round."

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Button praises Hamilton

20 March 2007

Lewis Hamilton earned himself a lot of respect from many in the paddock when the young British McLaren driver finished third in his maiden Formula One Grand Prix.

In Melbourne Hamilton steered the McLaren from a fourth spot on the grid to a third place at the finish. His country fellow Jenson Button praised Hamilton's performance. Button told The Guardian: "He did a fantastic job. Lewis had a great first race and was lucky enough to be in a good car but there is no getting away from the fact that he did a great job."

Button himself had a disappointing weekend. The Honda driver finished 15th at the Australian Grand Prix.

[Ange]

Formula One under way! Woot! thanks Luno!

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You're welcome Ange

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Sepang - Malaysia 28 March 2007

1 K. Räikkönen Ferrari 01:35.268

2 A. Wurz Williams 01:35.705

3 D. Coulthard Red Bull 01:35.712

4 R. Schumacher Toyota 01:35.751

5 R. Kubica BMW 01:35.887

6 L. Hamilton McLaren 01:36.115

7 T. Sato Super Aguri 01:36.306

8 R. Barrichello Honda 01:36.563

9 H. Kovalainen Renault 01:36.578

10 J. Button Honda 01:36.617

11 A. Davidson Super Aguri 01:37.876

12 S. Speed Scuderia Toro Rosso 01:37.910

13 V. Liuzzi Scuderia Toro Rosso 01:37.971

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Sepang - Malaysia 29 March 2007

1 L. Hamilton McLaren 01:35.918

2 M. Webber Red Bull 01:36.138

3 R. Schumacher Toyota 01:36.700

4 V. Liuzzi Scuderia Toro Rosso 01:36.712

5 F. Massa Ferrari 01:36.947

6 N. Rosberg Williams 01:37.070

7 J. Button Honda 01:37.472

8 A. Davidson Super Aguri 01:37.606

9 N. Heidfeld BMW 01:38.551

10 H. Kovalainen Renault 01:39.654

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Sepang - Malaysia 30 March 2007

1 H. Kovalainen Renault 01:35.767

2 F. Massa Ferrari 01:35.807

3 A. Davidson Super Aguri 01:36.787

4 N. Rosberg Williams 01:37.002

5 F. Montagny Toyota 01:37.206

6 N. Heidfeld BMW 01:37.318

7 J. Button Honda 01:37.326

8 L. Hamilton McLaren 01:37.448

9 M. Webber Red Bull 01:37.338

10 V. Liuzzi Scuderia Toro Rosso 01:38.542

11 C. Klien Honda 01:39.176

12 P. de la Rosa McLaren 01:39.303

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Button: Small step forward

Jenson Button believes that the Malaysian Grand Prix will go better for the Honda team after a thoroughly disappointing season-opener at Melbourne. Button will be praying that his RA107 can beat the fifteenth place that he scored in Australia and after completing a total of 156 laps at the Sepang test this week he is confident that the team has made some positive progress, although there is still much to be improved.

"We have run through a lot of test items this week," the Briton said.

"Mainly with new aero parts, trying to resolve some of the issues we had in Australia.

"The car definitely works better around the Sepang circuit, partly because braking stability is not as important here but also because we have made some improvements over the week.

"We have by no means solved everything yet and there is a long way to go but we have made a small step in the right direction. The weather has been up and down over my test days so I've also had the chance to experience some wet testing for the first time in the RA107 car," he added.

[Ange]

FORMULA ONE! Thanks luno

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You're welcome Ange

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John with Florence