Bahrain: Button on Bahrain

Jenson Button has always enjoyed the Bahrain Grand Prix, with the Honda Racing F1 driver securing a podium finish in the race's first year.

"Racing in Bahrain is always a great experience and it's a circuit that I really enjoy driving," explains Button. "There are some good fast flowing sections where you can really push the car through the two chicanes at turns four and five and later through the quick left and right at turns nine and ten. There are also several overtaking opportunities, particularly at turn one after the long straight, where you can make up crucial ground as people tend to brake surprisingly early.

"The most challenging sector is probably turn fourteen which has a very quick approach where you brake as you turn into the corner, so you have to be careful not to lock the inside front wheel. The sand blowing onto the tarmac can be a challenge as you never know how the grip levels will change from lap to lap."

Going fast in Bahrain requires specific attributes from the car. Inadvertently highlighting the main thing that the difficult RA107 is lacking, he says "Confidence under braking is the key to a quick lap around Bahrain. You need to believe in the car's performance and have no doubts that you can stop effectively."

Given the performance problems at Honda right now, and with no testing between Malaysia an Bahrain there's no reason to suspect anything will improve, at least Jenson can take time out and check on another project.

Speaking back in March 2006, Jenson revealed he's having a house built in the country. "It's not built yet but hopefully I'll be coming out," he said. "It's a great way to relax and it's not too far from Europe as well."

Much like his car, building work seems to be going fairly slowly, too. "I'm having a house built out there at the moment," said Jenson this week, "which should be ready in time for next year's race."