Brazilian GP: Honda Friday practice notes

The Honda Racing F1 Team made a positive start to the 2006 season finale in Sao Paulo today. After heavy rain during the last 48 hours, the weather remained dry but overcast as the drivers went about their initial set-up and tyre selection work at the Interlagos circuit.

This morning, third driver Anthony Davidson was the second fastest man on the track whilst Jenson Button and Rubens Barrichello were the third and fifth fastest race drivers. This afternoon, Anthony Davidson went P2 again while Jenson and Rubens concentrated on long-run set-up to complete the session fifth and 13th overall.

This weekend marks Lucky Strike's final race as title sponsor of the Honda Racing F1 Team. To commemorate Lucky Strike's departure, the team is running a revised livery for the weekend on both race cars and the Friday third car. The race car livery is entitled 'Racing Forever', while the third car is quite simply known as the 'Goodbye' car.

Anthony Davidson:

"A nice end to the season for me. The car was feeling really good all the way through today, particularly on the long runs which is promising for the race. The track continued improving all through the day and as the temperature warmed up it suited our car more and more, so hopefully the weather will continue to get better through the weekend."

"We had a bit of traffic on my last run which was a shame as the times could have been quicker but that's Friday driving for you. Reliability has again been excellent so we have a lot positives to take forward into the rest of the weekend."

Jenson Button:

"We have made improvements throughout the day as we've tried various set-up options. The balance was better this afternoon as the track improved and our pace seems encouraging. We had a few problems with traffic, particularly in the afternoon session, but it didn't impact on the running too much. Anthony was able to cover a lot of laps so we will have plenty of information to look through tonight."

Rubens Barrichello:

"I had a few issues with the set-up of the car to begin with but we made improvements this afternoon. The car has been quite slow on the straights which we need to look into tonight to find the reason. We got some useful work done today but there is still a lot of work to be done as I am not completely satisfied with the car."

Gil de Ferran, Sporting Director:

"A good clean day for us. Anthony, Rubens and Jenson completed all the planned running and we have the required data for us to make all the key decisions for tomorrow. Anthony and Jenson are happy with the car balance but Rubens' car needs a little more tuning."

"The weather is unusually cold but should get warmer over the weekend. Hopefully we can keep improving and be in a strong position for qualifying tomorrow. Since this is the last Friday of the season, I would like to take this opportunity to thank Anthony for his invaluable contribution, effort and focus all year."

Rubens Barrichello
Chassis: RA106-01
Practice session 1: 9th, 6 laps, 1:15.661
Practice session 2: 13th, 17 laps, 1:14.434

Jenson Button
Chassis: RA106-05
Practice session 1: 6th, 4 laps, 1:14.487
Practice session 2: 5th, 13 laps, 1:13.485

Anthony Davidson
Chassis: RA106-03
Practice session 1: 2nd, 32 laps, 1:13.902
Practice session 2: 2nd, 37 laps, 1:12.653

-credit: honda