Honda F1 Racing In Barcelona

Honda F1 team’s next destination is Barcelona, after the launching of the all-new RA108 which took place at the Honda Racing F1 Team’s Brackley headquarters a few days ago. According to MotorSport.com, the team had a three-day test program at the Circuit de Catalunya in Barcelona, Spain.

The team’s focus was on the Chassis RA108-01 where it had some early force in Valencia last week. However, the first severe test program with the first two chassis was done a few days ago wherein race drivers Rubens Barrichello and Jenson Button were coupled by Alex Wurz, Honda’s test and reserve driver.

“I am pleased with the reliability of the car. Generally, we have made some progress this week but there is still a lot of work to be done in the forthcoming tests. The car is completely new which means we are starting from zero in terms of developing the set-up. We are also experiencing some drivability issues as we work with the new ECU. The weather conditions today meant that I was able to get my first wet running in without traction control, which was good. On to Jerez next as we continue to keep pushing forward with developing the car,” Jenson Button commented after the test.

Rubens Barrichello stated it was good to run in the car at its first proper test from the time when it was launched.

“There is plenty of potential in terms of working on the speed of the car in the coming tests and this will come as we continue to make progress with the set-up. At this stage I am happy that reliability is certainly on our side,” added Barrichello.

“It was good to finally experience the new car for the first time, apart from a few short yards at the launch of course. I conducted a shakedown of the latest chassis 02 and some aero testing. The car felt good although there are a few adjustments to be made to my seat and positioning in order to hit the ground running at my next test. I am enjoying getting to know the team and how they work, so I am looking forward to making the maximum contribution to the RA108 development programme over the coming weeks,” noted Alex Wurz.