Honda Silverstone test notes 2008-06-26

END OF TEST REPORT

The Honda Racing F1 Team today concluded a three-day test programme at Silverstone. The Northamptonshire circuit is just seven miles from the team's headquarters in Brackley and will host the next race on the Formula One calendar, the British Grand Prix on Sunday 6 July.

This week's test, conducted by race drivers Jenson Button and Rubens Barrichello, allowed the team to focus on the latest developments for the RA108 car, along with preparation for the forthcoming races.

Jenson began the test on Tuesday working through a series of aerodynamic evaluations around the 17 turns of the Silverstone circuit. He continued the aero work on Wednesday, before moving onto a comprehensive tyre programme with the Bridgestone Potenza prime and option tyres which will be used at the British Grand Prix. Jenson completed 195 laps of the 3.194-mile circuit over his two days in the car.

Rubens took over at the wheel of the RA108 on Thursday for the final day of the test. After an initial installation run to ensure that he was comfortable with the set-up of the car and get a feel for the grip levels around the circuit, he continued the aerodynamic programme, alongside further evaluation of the tyre options. Rubens completed 94 laps.

Jenson Button

"We had a good two days in Silverstone this week and it felt great to be back driving here. Silverstone is one of the only fast and flowing circuits left, along with Spa and Suzuka, and I absolutely love it. Our focus this week was to evaluate the new aero parts that we will have on the car for the forthcoming races. We've found some improvements, even in the windy conditions that we had on the second day, and I'm happy with the direction that we have taken. I have a few days of training now and after that I'm looking forward to my home race in front of a sell-out crowd."

Rubens Barrichello

"We had a positive day at Silverstone today. The car performed well and I could feel an improvement from the new aerodynamic parts that we were evaluating, even with the strong winds. We concentrated on achieving a good balance for the combination of high speed and low speed corners that you have here. I love driving at Silverstone so I am looking forward to the race next weekend and hopeful that we can achieve a better result than in France."

Steve Clark

"The Silverstone test was an important one for us this week as we had a number of new performance developments to evaluate in the areas of aerodynamics, chassis and engine. We were fortunate to have three dry days in order to maximise the running, however conditions for the test were quite difficult with strong and variable winds. This affects the balance of the car from run to run so it can be tricky to confirm the more subtle set-up changes. Additionally, we had both types of the Bridgestone Potenza tyre options for the race available here, giving the opportunity to conduct some comprehensive evaluation, which will leave the British Grand Prix weekend free for performance tuning."

-credit: honda