US GP: Honda preview

The Honda Racing F1 Team heads south from Canada to the United States this week for Round Ten of the 2006 FIA Formula One World Championship. The second race in the mid-season double-header will take place on Sunday at the historic Indianapolis Motor Speedway, the second oldest venue in the F1 calendar.

Following the events of the 2005 United States Grand Prix, all of the Formula One teams will be keen to put on an exciting show for the thousands of motor racing fans who will be attending over the weekend.

Rubens Barrichello:

"I really enjoy racing in the United States and have a lot of friends based there so I always look forward to this particular race. The track itself is a lot of fun with some great overtaking places and it feels good to drive through the first corner of the oval banking flat out, although it is an easy corner for us in an F1 car."

"Indianapolis has such a strong motor racing heritage and traditionally puts on a great show so I hope that the race weekend goes really well this year for all the fans who come to watch. I had a disappointing race in Montreal so we will be hoping for better this weekend, but it will be tough for us until we return to testing and work on improving the performance of the car. "

Jenson Button:

"It's always exciting to race at a venue which has such a strong history and Indianapolis always has a great atmosphere. The circuit itself is very slow with the tight in-field section. I generally prefer fast flowing circuits but you can overtake around here which should make for some exciting racing for the fans."

"We will be using different tyres at Indy to those we used last weekend in Montreal so I am hoping that we can have a better race there. I also hope that we can give the American public a really good race this year."

Gil de Ferran, Sporting Director:

"Whilst we were obviously disappointed with our result in Canada, we have less than a week now to prepare and optimise our package for the United States Grand Prix this coming weekend."

"The Indianapolis Motor Speedway is a very challenging circuit, where the tight infield sections lead into the oval and one of the longest open-throttle sections of any of the tracks on the F1 calendar, calling for a difficult compromise between car set-up, aerodynamics and gearing."

"Besides my strong personal emotional connection with the place, we all enjoy the very special atmosphere of Indianapolis and very much look forward to returning there this year for what I'm sure will be a great race."

-honda-