Formula 1

Monaco GP: Honda Saturday qualifying notes

The Honda Racing F1 Team will start tomorrow's Monaco Grand Prix from the fifth row of the grid after a strong qualifying performance on the twisty Monte Carlo circuit today. Rubens Barrichello and Jenson Button both made it through to the final ...

Published: May 26, 2007, 8:51 PM

Copy link

Share on Facebook

Share on Twitter

Share on WhatsApp

Share on Linkedin

Share on Pinterest

Share on Viber

Add as a preferred source

The Honda Racing F1 Team will start tomorrow's Monaco Grand Prix from the fifth row of the grid after a strong qualifying performance on the twisty Monte Carlo circuit today. Rubens Barrichello and Jenson Button both made it through to the final session and will start in ninth and 10th positions respectively following the team's best qualifying showing of the year.

Following intermittent showers during morning practice, this afternoon's qualifying hour remained dry and the two Honda drivers easily made it through the first knock-out session, posting the eighth and ninth fastest times.

At the end of Q2, Rubens was the 10th fastest driver, with Jenson squeezed out by just 0.003 secs. A penalty for David Coulthard stripped him of his Q2 times which promoted Jenson to Q3. This led to an action-packed final session that saw the Honda drivers swapping positions right up to the end.

Rubens Barrichello:

"I would like to say a big thank you to the whole team today. We did a fantastic job to make it through to the final session. Little by little we are improving and although we still have a long way to go and a lot of work to do, we are encouraged. I know we will get back to where we belong. I'm very excited for tomorrow. This is always a great race but starting P9 really gives us a shot at the points."

Jenson Button:

"It's great that we made it through to the third session today. Definitely a step in the right direction. My radio wasn't working properly and it was crackling the whole time so in the end I had to unplug it completely, which was far from ideal because we had to be 'on it' the whole time during today's qualifying. Monaco places a premium on qualifying position so what we have achieved today is great. The team did a good job and we can do well tomorrow so I'm really looking forward to it."

Jacky Eeckelaert, Engineering Director:

"Our best qualifying session of the year and we are very pleased to see both drivers in the top ten, particularly here in Monaco where a good grid position can have such an impact on the race. Both drivers got all of the performance possible out of the car today with some excellent driving and also credit is due to the team for the job they did of running the cars. This morning, the free practice session was affected by some rain just before and during the session but thankfully qualifying remained dry and we can now look forward to a stronger race tomorrow."

Rubens Barrichello
Chassis: RA107-02
9th, 1:17.498

Jenson Button
Chassis: RA107-04
10th, 1:17.939

-credit: honda

We want your opinion!

What would you like to see on Motorsport.com?

Take our 5 minute survey.

- The Motorsport.com Team

Read and post comments

Read also :

Share Or Save This Story

Copy link

Share on Facebook

Share on Twitter

Share on WhatsApp

Share on Linkedin

Share on Pinterest

Share on Viber

Previous article Monaco GP qualifying

Next article Monaco GP: Ferrari Saturday qualifying notes

Top Comments

There are no comments at the moment. Would you like to write one?

View More & Comment

More from

Jenson Button



The greatest F1 campaigns with no wins

Formula 1

The greatest F1 campaigns with no wins



Fernando Alonso earns Michael Schumacher comparison from Jenson Button

Formula 1

Formula 1

Italian GP

Fernando Alonso earns Michael Schumacher comparison from Jenson Button



Who belongs on F1's Mount Rushmore? Pick your four greatest drivers

Formula 1

Formula 1

Who belongs on F1's Mount Rushmore? Pick your four greatest drivers

More from

Honda Racing F1 Team



Eight shock Formula 1 team principal changes

Formula 1

Formula 1

Eight shock Formula 1 team principal changes



"It wasn't a fairytale season" - Jenson Button opens up about 2009, rookie drivers, and more

Formula 1

Formula 1

"It wasn't a fairytale season" - Jenson Button opens up about 2009, rookie drivers, and more



How Honda F1 missed a two-week window to sign Vettel

Formula 1

Formula 1

How Honda F1 missed a two-week window to sign Vettel

Latest news



Brad Keselowski reflects on 2026 and expects "lots of soul searching" in off-season

NASCAR Cup

NAS NASCAR Cup

Homestead-Miami

7 min

Brad Keselowski reflects on 2026 and expects "lots of soul searching" in off-season



What's behind Oscar Piastri's split with Mark Webber – and what it means for his F1 career

Formula 1

F1 Formula 1

Sao Paulo GP

22 min

What's behind Oscar Piastri's split with Mark Webber – and what it means for his F1 career



Shane van Gisbergen gets new crew chief for 2027 NASCAR Cup season

NASCAR Cup

NAS NASCAR Cup

Homestead-Miami

30 min

Shane van Gisbergen gets new crew chief for 2027 NASCAR Cup season



Conquest Racing locks in 2027 IMSA GTD lineup with Manny Franco full-time return

IMSA

IMSA IMSA 49 min

Conquest Racing locks in 2027 IMSA GTD lineup with Manny Franco full-time return

Feature

Discover prime content



How Formula 1 proved the naysayers wrong – for once

Formula 1

Sao Paulo GP

By Stuart Codling

How Formula 1 proved the naysayers wrong – for once



How Lando Norris prevailed in a swift errors tour of Interlagos

Formula 1

Sao Paulo GP

By Stuart Codling

How Lando Norris prevailed in a swift errors tour of Interlagos



"He really wanted it" – why Russell was furious over aborted Brazil ‘pole’ lap

Formula 1

Sao Paulo GP

By Stuart Codling

"He really wanted it" – why Russell was furious over aborted Brazil ‘pole’ lap



What we learned from Friday practice at the 2026 Brazilian GP

Formula 1

Sao Paulo GP

By Jake Boxall-Legge

What we learned from Friday practice at the 2026 Brazilian GP

Subscribe and access Motorsport.com with your ad-blocker.

From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.

You have 2 options:

Subscribe now Already subscribed? Sign in here

Already disabled your adblocker?
Reload page

Manage Alerts

Subscribe