Malaysian GP: Honda Friday practice notes

For the second race weekend in succession, the Honda Racing F1 Team's Anthony Davidson ended Friday free practice as the fastest driver on the track. Jenson Button and Rubens Barrichello were the 6th and 8th fastest of the race drivers in Kuala Lumpur today, as they began their preparations for Sunday's Malaysian Grand Prix.

Free practice sessions 1 and 2 were conducted in typically fierce heat and humidity at the Sepang Circuit, allowing the drivers to acclimatise to the conditions expected for Sunday's race as they conducted their usual set-up and tyre selection programmes.

Anthony Davidson:

"Obviously I'm pleased to end Friday at the top of the timesheets for the second race in a row. It hasn't been quite as straightforward a day as we hoped, due to the problem I had with the rears locking. This caused me to spin and lose a lot of time in the second session. Overall I think we ended the day in better shape and have some good information to work with to improve the car."

Jenson Button:

"A pretty straightforward day for us in terms of our set-up and tyre programme. There's still a lot more to come from the car and some work to be done to nail the set-up, as Anthony's problem demonstrated. Hopefully we can solve our problems for tomorrow."

Rubens Barrichello:

"We still have some work to do on the braking - I'm still struggling with that a little from Bahrain. There's still a lot of work to do on the set-up but it was positive to see where Anthony ended up today."

Gil de Ferran, Sporting director:

"We are happy to have Anthony at the top of the timesheets again, however all three drivers are not entirely pleased with the car, so there is definitely some room for improvement. Despite the fact that the third car running was curtailed, we gathered a lot of data and hopefully will put this to good use tomorrow."

Shuhei Nakamoto, Management Board Member, Honda Racing F1 Team:

"We had a very straightforward day with the engine today. We do not anticipate any problems due to the high temperatures and humidity, despite the fact that this will be the second race weekend's mileage conducted on both engines. We will analyse the data gathered today and work towards achieving a strong qualifying position tomorrow."

Rubens Barrichello
Chassis: RA106-03
Practice session 1: No timed laps (Third car programme)
Practice session 2: 10th, 13 laps, 1:37.270

Jenson Button
Chassis: RA106-04
Practice session 1: No timed lap (Third car programme)
Practice session 2: 8th, 12 laps, 1:36.661

Anthony Davidson
Chassis: RA106-01
Practice session 1: 3rd, 25 laps, 1:35.997
Practice session 2: 1st, 14 laps, 1:35.041

-honda-