The Honda Racing F1 Team concluded its 2007 pre-season testing programme at the Bahrain International Circuit today. With all four drivers in attendance, the team concentrated on evaluating the final specification of the RA107 car and conducting race simulations before the Formula One season starts in Australia on 18 March.
Christian Klien and James Rossiter began the test on Tuesday with both drivers having their first run in the new car around the Bahrain circuit. They spent their early laps acclimatising to the conditions, before Christian went on to complete an aero evaluation followed by race start procedures over 89 laps. James also worked on an aero evaluation alongside a tyre programme completing 78 laps.
Jenson Button and Rubens Barrichello joined the team in Bahrain on Wednesday. Jenson spent the day working on an aero programme alongside suspension evaluations, completing 75 laps. Rubens concentrated on general chassis set-up work and a further aero evaluation, finishing the day with a total of 61 laps.
The race drivers continued their running for the final day of the test. Jenson began with race start and qualifying simulations before completing aero and electronic controls systems work. Rubens continued to work on general set-up aimed at improving the car’s performance over short and long runs. He spent the afternoon completing long tyre runs on the different Bridgestone compounds available. Jenson completed 99 laps with Rubens covering 119 laps on their final day in the car.
Jenson Button “We completed our test programme for the start of the season today and can now look forward to the first Grand Prix in Melbourne. The car has proved reliable throughout pre-season testing and we have made improvements since the RA107 ran for the first time in January. However, we still have some work to do off-track to ensure we can get the most from our package in the first few races. “
Rubens Barrichello “The test has gone well this week although we had a much better day today than yesterday. I have been able to complete some good long distance running with the car and the reliability is there, which is positive. It is difficult to predict where we are in relation to the other teams, and although I am comfortable with our results, we do still have some development work to achieve. I am really looking forward to the start of the season as I feel very much at home with the team and the car this year and I think we can do a good job together. “
Christian Klien “We were able to complete our planned test programme on Tuesday despite the windy conditions which made the data collection a little difficult. However the car was reliable and we were able to complete some good laps. “
James Rossiter “This was my first time in the new car since the shakedown at Silverstone back in January so it was good to be able to get back in and begin to understand its characteristics. We focused mainly on tyre work on Tuesday and improving the balance of the car over longer runs. “
Jacky Eeckelaert - Engineering Director “We completed our final pre-season test in Bahrain this week with all four of our drivers in attendance. On the first day, Christian and James worked on some new development parts and on the final two days Jenson and Rubens completed several race distances to sign off the reliability of the RA107 car. Our latest developments for the start of the season have improved the car handling but we still have some work to do in terms of overall pace. We know the areas which need to be improved and the continuous development of the car should allow us to improve the pace to where we would like to be. “
