2007 TURKISH GP: RACE
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. Jenson’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, Jenson 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.
JENSON BUTTON
"It was a lot of fun passing 10 cars! 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."
RUBENS BARRICHELLO
"Obviously today was always going to be difficult starting from the back
of the field. The car was moving around quite a bit from corner to corner and
there wasn’t much I could do from where we started."
JACKY EECKELAERT
Engineering Director
"Starting from the back row of the grid, it was never going to be an easy
race today. However, Jenson drove a strong race, making best use of the car to
progress from 21st to 13th position and overtaking 10 cars on the track. Rubens
drove a steady race and was able to gain positions at the start due to the
first-lap melée but after that, on his last two ‘option’ sets of tyres, too
much understeer slowed him down and he finished P17."