Formula One news

Honda feeling more confident at Monza

Honda was one of the few teams to do any running during this morning's 1.5-hour practice session. The legendary Monza racetrack was covered by dark clouds from the outset, but Rubens Barrichello still completed 14 laps to set the second fastest time. Jenson Button achieved 12 laps before the session was red-flagged as the track became increasingly waterlogged.

Blue skies emerged for the afternoon and the track was dry after 30 minutes of the session, which allowed Rubens and Jenson to begin their Friday test programme in earnest. They worked through their set-up and tyre comparison programme to end the day in 14th and 15th positions. 

"We have changed the car dramatically since the Monza test as we were simply not competitive then," said Barrichello. "It's good that the car had a different reaction to the track today and I can feel that the balance has improved. We can't read too much into the levels of our performance as the track conditions were not ideal and it depends what our competitors were doing. So we need to continue our analysis overnight and plan our approach for qualifying tomorrow carefully."

Button commented, "The car feels very different today to the test here at the end of August. I have a lot more confidence in the braking stability and we have made other positive changes to the mechanical balance. Considering that we were not able to complete many laps today, we have certainly made a step in the right direction since the test. However there is still a great deal of work required this evening to look at how we can progress from here over the rest of the weekend."

Team boss Ross Brawn added, "I think this will be a challenging weekend for us but if the weather is inconsistent then we will look at this as an opportunity and one that we will grasp with both hands. I'm pleased with the drivers' comments about the car because at the test we really hadn't found a good solution. However the team have worked well since then to improve the performance and it is good to see this reflected in the timesheets today."

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