Formula One news

Button in playful mood despite poor Honda pace

The Honda Racing F1 Team's Jenson Button and Rubens Barrichello ended today's Turkish Grand Prix in 13th and 17th positions at the Istanbul Park circuit.

After the disappointment of lining up on the back row of the grid for the start of the race - the penalty for their pre-race engine changes - they set about taking advantage of a good strategy and tyre choices. Button's start was compromised by having to run wide into the first corner to avoid a spinning Jarno Trulli, but both drivers made good progress in the opening laps. During the course of the 58-lap race, Button overtook no fewer than 10 cars on the track and having lined up 21st on the grid he made up eight places to finish 13th.

"It was a lot of fun passing 10 cars!" Button said. "If you put to one side where we finished - because 13th position is still far from a good result - I think we had a reasonable race compared to the last one. I had a good time and was able to pass quite a few of the midfield competitors that we've been struggling to keep pace with in recent races. Obviously starting from the back of the grid is not something I want to have to repeat but we did a good job to fight for something better and I think the team can be pleased with our performance today."

"Obviously today was always going to be difficult starting from the back of the field," Barrichello added. "The car was moving around quite a bit from corner to corner and there wasn't much I could do from where we started."

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