Productive Day Wraps Up Honda Test

By Jamie Makin
December 3 2006

It was a busy day at the Circuit de Catalunya as Honda F1 drivers Rubens Barrichello and Christian Klien completed their first week of winter testing.

Barrichello completed 115 laps as the team focused on testing suspension components and their new Bridgestone tyres. He set the 5th quickest time out of 18 drivers with a 1:17.90. New test and reserve driver Klien put in 103 laps and earned the 10th best time with a 1:17.744.

The 18th place driver for the day was perhaps the most noteworthy story of the day. Two-time world champion, Mika Hakkinen, made his first appearance in the McLaren Mercedes since his retirement at the end of 2001.

The Honda F1 team will now head south to the Circuito de Jerez to resume testing from 6 to 8 December. They take with them the satisfaction that their first week of winter testing has been a productive one.

Christian Klien
Third & Test Driver
Honda Racing F1

"Overall I have had a good couple of days testing for my new team. It has been very enjoyable start to my relationship with Honda and I think I have worked well with the engineers and mechanics. After I had acclimatised to the car and started to understand the way the team operates, I was able to get down to some proper testing, generating some real data and feedback for the team to work with. Working with a new car, a new team and new tyres for the first time is always going to be a challenge but I am pretty happy with my performance here taking into account all those factors. I’m looking forward to Jerez where I am scheduled to run for two days."

Rubens Barrichello
Race Driver
Honda Racing F1

"It’s good to be back in the car again after the long break since Brazil. I have been working on my training in preparation as the hard work for our 2007 season starts here. It’s good to be working with Bridgestone again and we’ve had a pretty good start to our new relationship. I think we have a decent understanding of how we can begin to maximise the tyres with our car and obviously the team has two more tests in Jerez to continue this development. All in all, a good start to our winter campaign."

James Rossiter
Young Driver
Honda Racing F1

"We had an interesting first day, running on the Bridgestone tyres for the first time. We spent the morning gathering data relevant to the tyres and during the afternoon we were able to work on some longer runs to evaluate the performance of the Bridgestones. Overall it was a successful day for me with no issues."

Mark Ellis
Chief Engineer Vehicle Performance
Honda Racing F1

"Our on-track preparations for the 2007 season started this week, with our primary focus on learning about the new Bridgestone tyres and developing the relationship with our new partner. It is early days and there is obviously a long way to go in adapting the car to optimise the performance of the tyres, but we are pleased with the progress we have made throughout this week. We have methodically collected a huge amount of data that will be analysed ahead of next week’s test in Jerez where we will continue our work with the new tyres. We are pleased that Christian has adapted well to working with the team and was able to contribute positively to the programme in his first test."