German Grand Prix: Qualifying

The Honda Racing F1 Team enjoyed a good qualifying session in Hockenheim today as Jenson Button and Rubens Barrichello found themselves competing at the top of timesheets once again. Jenson will line up on the second row of the grid for tomorrow’s 67 lap race after posting the 4th fastest qualifying time. His team-mate was less than a tenth behind in 6th place and will start right behind him in 6th position.

This afternoon’s qualifying result comes hot on the heels of a strong showing in free practice this morning when Jenson and Rubens were the 2nd and 3rd fastest drivers on the track. The team now hopes to carry this performance improvement through to tomorrow’s race and is aiming for a points finish for both cars.

Jenson Button		Rubens Barrichello

Jenson Button
Free Practice 3 Position: 2nd
Qualifying
Session 1 12th
Session 2 3rd
Session 3 - Final Position: 4th Lap Time: 1:14.862
"Obviously this is a very positive qualifying result for us and I’m really pleased that I’ll be starting from the second row tomorrow. We’ve looked competitive all through the weekend but I’d prefer to wait and see how the race pans out. Generally though I’m looking forward to tomorrow. I think it should be a great race."

Rubens Barrichello
Free Practice 3 Position: 3rd
Qualifying
Session 1 8th
Session 2 6th
Session 3 - Final Position: 6th Lap Time: 1:14.934
"I really feel like I had a great lap today and I think our result shows that it’s back to reality in a way. We had a difficult time in France but we are closer now to where we should be again. We had a much better test in Jerez and we seemed to have made some good progress with the car in a number of areas. I think we can translate today’s qualifying into a positive performance tomorrow and we should be able to have a strong race with some good points for both of us."

Gil de Ferran, Sporting Director
"We had a good day today and are very satisfied with our qualifying performance . Both Jenson and Rubens did a great job. The hotter track temperatures today suited our car and tyres, and the team's hard work is starting to pay off. So far we have been able to improve a little with each session and the new engine specification is working well. Let's see what tomorrow brings."

SUPER AGURI F1 TEAM enjoyed their best day yet as Takuma Sato out-qualified their nearest rivals by 0.651 seconds in his new SA06 to start the 2006 German Grand Prix in 17th position tomorrow. Sakon Yamamoto, the youngest Japanese driver to debut in F1, showed impressive handling of the new car during the first half of final free practice this morning. Unfortunately, whilst familiarising himself with the limits of the SA06, Sakon left the track at the last corner of a flying lap and, after hitting the wall, was forced to qualify in the T-car this afternoon.

Takuma Sato		Sakon Yamamoto

Takuma Sato
FP3 Position 20 Fastest Lap Time 1:18.668
Qualifying Grid Position 17 Fastest Lap Time 1:17.185
"This was an absolutely fantastic team effort and it feels great. I know how hard it has been to bring the new car here on such a tight schedule and overnight the boys worked so hard. We had a few minor problems, which is usual with a new car, but I think the SA06 is performing very well. We have split the Midland car times straight away in our first proper qualifying, which is a stunning job from everybody in the team. I think that, considering this is just our first step in the SA06, potentially this car could be very good."

Sakon Yamamoto
FP3 Position 19 Fastest Lap Time 1:18.643
Qualifying Grid Position 21 Fastest Lap Time 1:20.444
"This morning we were practicing for the qualifying session and we had a good car set-up, so during my first run I was able to set really good lap times. We then tried a new set of tyres and set-up and I wanted to know where the limit of the car was, so I used 100% of the car’s performance, but unfortunately I left the track. I am so sorry that the team now has to work on my SA06 for tomorrow, but I am very much looking forward to my first race."

Aguri Suzuki, Team Principal
"Taku did a very good job in Qualifying today. However we must remember that this is not our complete SA06 package and that we still have to work very hard for every forthcoming race. Sakon set consistently good times this morning, but he pushed too hard towards the end. Hopefully both he and Takuma will have a good race tomorrow and we will have both SA06 cars cross the finish line here in Germany."