Honda: summary press release of the tests at Silverstone

The Honda Racing F1 Team concluded a three-day test at Silverstone yesterday. Located in Northamptonshire, the circuit is just 11 kilometers from the team's headquarters in Brackley and on 6 July it will host the British Grand Prix, the next Formula One race on the calendar.

This week's test, led by regular drivers Jenson Button and Rubens Barrichello, allowed the team to test the latest developments for the RA108, as well as prepare for the upcoming races.

Jenson opened the test on Tuesday by carrying out a series of assessments on the aerodynamic package along the 17 corners of the Silverstone track. The Englishman then continued his work on aerodynamics on Wednesday, before dedicating himself to an extensive evaluation program of the Bridgestone Potenza prime and option tires which will be used in the British Grand Prix. Over the two days of testing, Jenson completed 195 laps of the 5.141 kilometer track.

On Thursday, the last day of the test, Rubens took over from Jenson at the wheel of the RA108. After a warm-up outing to check that he was comfortable with the car's set-up and to test the grip levels in the various parts of the track, the Brazilian continued the aerodynamics program and carried out further evaluation tests on the tyres, covering 94 rounds in total.

Jenson Button
"We spent two good days of work here at Silverstone and it was great to be back driving on this track. Silverstone is one of the very few fast and streamlined tracks left on the calendar, together with Spa and Suzuka, and I like it very much. this week's objective was to evaluate the new aerodynamic parts that we will fit in the next grands prix. We found some improvements, even on the second windy day, and I am satisfied with the path taken. Now, I have a couple of days of training ahead of me, then I will wait I'm looking forward to my home race in front of a huge crowd."

Rubens Barrichello
“Today at Silverstone was positive. The car ran well and I could see some improvement due to the new aerodynamic parts tested, even in strong wind conditions. We worked to find a good balance between the fast and slow corners that characterize this track. I really like the Silverstone circuit and so I'm looking forward to racing there next weekend, in the hope of achieving a better result than in France.”

Steve Clark
“This week's Silverstone test was very important, as we had to test numerous developments regarding the aerodynamics, chassis and engine. As luck would have it, we were able to make the most of three days of dry track, despite the testing conditions being difficult at times due to strong and variable winds. In fact, the balance of the car is affected by changing from one exit to another and therefore it is easy to fall into error when confirming even the smallest changes to the set-up. We also tested both types of Bridgestone Potenza that we will have for this race and this allowed us to carry out exhaustive comparative tests, so that during the race weekend we can concentrate on performance tuning.”

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