March 14, 200817 yr Australian Grand Prix2nd Free Practice1 L. Hamilton 1:26.559 332 M. Webber 1:27.473 273 F. Massa 1:27.640 294 H. Kovalainen 1:27.683 295 D. Coulthard 1:28.037 266 K. Raikkonen 1:28.208 287 J. Trulli 1:28.292 228 N. Rosberg 1:28.352 319 G. Fisichella 1:28.469 3210 T. Glock 1:28.582 2811 J. Button 1:28.632 3012 N. Heidfeld 1:28.731 3313 F. Alonso 1:28.779 3714 R. Barrichello 1:28.849 2815 R. Kubica 1:28.860 3516 K. Nakajima 1:29.077 3317 A. Sutil 1:29.161 3218 S. Vettel 1:29.193 4019 N. Piquet jr. 1:29.518 1420 S. Bourdais 1:29.605 1121 T. Sato 1:30.663 1622 A. Davidson 1:31.527 8
March 14, 200817 yr Button doesn't expect to score points in Melbourne14 March 2008Honda driver Jenson Button believes his Honda Formula 1 car is not competitive just yet to start scoring points from the opening round in Melbourne. The Briton does expect though the team will face a more competitive season than last year when the team was unable to impress."The great thing is that no-one has a clue where we stand and it's quite exciting," Button said. "I don't think we are going to be challenging for points but we are going to be a lot closer, actually racing in the mix with the slower part of that middle pack."But Button does believe the team should be able to score points later on in the season. "If it keeps going the way we think it is going to go and it stays on track then I'll be very happy," he said.
March 14, 200817 yr Honda drivers upbeat after free practice14 March 2008 The 2008 season got underway in Melbourne today with the first two practice sessions for this weekend's curtain-raiser, the Australian Grand Prix. Honda Racing drivers Jenson Button and Rubens Barrichello were upbeat after concluding a solid day of set-up work to fine-tune the RA108 to the demands of the Albert Park circuit conditions. Button and Barrichello ended the day in 11th and 14th positions."Today has been a good day for us," said Button. "We focused mainly on tyre work and getting the best out of the car in the very hot conditions. Everything went smoothly and the car feels much as it did at the Jerez test, which is pleasing. We won't know our true relative position compared to the competition until later tomorrow, but at the moment the priority for us is focusing on our own test items and adapting the set-up to the requirements and conditions here."Rubens Barrichello said: "It's very hot and dry today, with the temperatures increasing this afternoon, so the track has lost some grip over the course of the day. The track was better in the morning session and I was much happier with the car then."It is still too early to tell how we will perform in qualifying tomorrow. We ran a fairly conservative programme today and we are looking better than in testing, but Friday is not a real indicator of performance as everyone is running their own programme with regard to fuel levels. We aim to be in the middle of the pack tomorrow and I believe we are on course for this."
March 15, 200817 yr 3rd Free Practice1 R. Kubica 1:25.613 182 N. Heidfeld 1:25.950 163 F. Alonso 1:26.082 144 N. Rosberg 1:26.171 175 D. Coulthard 1:26.385 146 M. Webber 1:26.407 177 J. Button 1:26.502 188 S. Vettel 1:26.663 189 G. Fisichella 1:26.682 1810 J. Trulli 1:26.882 1111 F. Massa 1:27.020 1912 L. Hamilton 1:27.084 1413 T. Glock 1:27.162 1514 K. Räikkönen 1:27.163 1715 N. Piquet jr. 1:27.284 1316 R. Barrichello 1:27.333 1817 A. Sutil 1:27.489 1818 S. Bourdais 1:27.578 1719 K. Nakajima 1:27.601 1520 H. Kovalainen 1:27.992 1521 T. Sato 1:28.363 1322 A. Davidson 1:28.912 15
March 15, 200817 yr Qualifying1 L. Hamilton 1:26.7142 R. Kubica 1:26.8663 H. Kovalainen 1:27.0794 F. Massa 1:27.1785 N. Heidfeld 1:27.2366 J. Trulli 1:28.5277 N. Rosberg 1:28.6878 D. Coulthard 1:29.0419 T. Glock 1:29.59310 S. Vettel no time11 R. Barrichello 1:26.17312 F. Alonso 1:26.18813 J. Button 1:26.25914 K. Nakayama's 1:26.41315 M. Webber no time16 K. Raikkonen no time17 G. Fisichella 1:27.20718 S. Bourdais 1:27.44619 A. Sutil 1:27.85920 T. Sato 1:28.20821 N. Piquet jr. 1:28.33022 A. Davidson 1:29.059
March 15, 200817 yr Button surprised by Honda pace15 March 2008 Jenson Button may have qualified thirteenth, but it was the happiest thirteenth of his life in Albert Park today as he rejoiced in Honda's improved competitiveness. Team mate Ruberns Barrichello finished just ahead of him in eleventh."Everyone was a bit surprised by our pace here if you look at pre-season testing and personally I'm really disappointed because I screwed up my lap so it could have been better," Button said after qualifying."I'm happy for the team that we're more competitive. It's so close out there - just 0.3s from where I am to eighth which is really exciting for the sport," he added. "We'll see a good improvement with our car throughout the year and it's a great start for us and if we can keep building on this I'll be happy."
March 16, 200817 yr Grand Prix of Australia - 16 March 2008RacePos. Driver Time 1 L. Hamilton 1:34:50.616 2 N. Heidfeld + 5.478 3 N. Rosberg + 8.163 4 F. Alonso + 17.181 5 H. Kovalainen + 18.014 6 K. Nakajima + 1 laps Did not finish7 S. Bourdais + 3 laps 8 K. Raikkonen + 5 laps 9 R. Kubica + 10 laps 10 T. Glock + 14 laps 11 T. Sato + 27 laps 12 N. Piquet jr. + 28 laps 13 F. Massa + 29 laps 14 D. Coulthard + 33 laps 15 J. Trulli + 38 laps 16 A. Sutil + 49 laps 17 M. Webber + 57 laps 18 J. Button + 57 laps 19 A. Davidson + 58 laps 20 S. Vettel + 58 laps 21 G. Fisichella + 58 laps 22 R. Barrichello no time
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.