US GP: BAR Saturday qualifying notes

Lucky Strike B*A*R Honda's Jenson Button will start tomorrow's United States Grand Prix from the second row of the grid after posting the 3rd fastest lap in this afternoon's qualifying session.

Takuma Sato ended the session 8th, despite a big set-up change after this morning's practice, and he will line up in a fourth-row grid slot for the start of the 73-lap race.

Free practice running today was rather unusual as the Michelin-teams modified their programmes according to the advice of the tyre manufacturer after their overnight analysis of yesterday's tyre problems.

B*A*R Honda will continue to assist Michelin in their investigations and welcome their guidance to ensure the best possible outcome for tomorrow's race.

Jenson Button:

"It's nice to get two good qualifying sessions in a row following our pole in Montreal but it wasn't the best lap really for me today. We're definitely in better shape than yesterday and have made quite a few improvements to the car which is nice to see."

"However, I struggled with very low grip and understeer on my lap, so I was a little surprised at the time because it felt like a tough lap. Still, it's great to be third and I think we can do good things from here. Our strategy is a good one so I'm looking forward to tomorrow."

Takuma Sato:

"It was a little bit difficult for me today because I used a different set-up in qualifying from this morning's practice. We needed to find a lot of speed after the Friday practice so we decided to go different ways with the two cars this morning. I had a relatively good lap but we suffered a little with straightline speed. I am hopeful for a good performance from the car tomorrow."

Gil de Ferran, Sporting director:

"We had quite a productive day. We made several changes overnight and ran the two cars very differently this morning, and the outcome was that the preferred set-up was the one we ran on Jenson's car. Taku did a good job in qualifying on an unfamiliar car, as did Jenson to qualify third."

"We finish today reasonably satisfied and positive about our chances tomorrow. With regards to the tyre situation for tomorrow, we await Michelin's decision and have confidence in their judgement."

Shuhei Nakamoto, Engineering director, Honda Racing Development:

"We had a better day today with both drivers doing a good job in the qualifying session. It is important that we turn our pace into points this weekend."

Jenson Button
Chassis: BAR Honda 007-04
Position: 3rd
Lap time: 1:11.277

Takuma Sato
Chassis: BAR Honda 007-05
Position: 8th
Lap Time: 1:11.497

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