German GP Preview: Honda
24/07/2006 Round twelve of the 2006 FIA Formula One World Championship, the German Grand Prix, takes place at Hockenheim this weekend. The fourth of this season's five sets of back-to-back races sees the F1 calendar move to Germany and then Hungary before the now traditional summer break at the
beginning of August. Since the French Grand Prix, the Honda Racing F1 Team have completed a successful test in Jerez to prepare for the next three races, concentrating on chassis and engine developments, further development of the aerodynamics package first used in France and intensive tyre evaluations in preparation for the three hot races coming up in Germany, Hungary and Turkey. The German Grand Prix will also mark Honda's 300th Grand Prix since the company first entered Formula One in 1964 as a works team. Since then, Honda has been involved in three generations of F1 participation: 1964-1968 as the initial works team, 1983-1992 as an engine supplier and from 2000 supplying engines to the then B*A*R Honda and Jordan teams, before taking 100% ownership of the Honda Racing F1 Team for the 2006 season. In over forty years of F1 participation, Honda has won 71 races, taken 173 podiums and 77 pole positions. The Honda Racing F1 Team will be hosting a party in the F1 paddock on Friday evening to celebrate the 300 milestone, welcoming drivers and partners past and present, along with the F1 media, as a thank you for all the support the company has received over the years. Rubens Barrichello: "My first victory in Formula One came at the Hockenheimring back in 2000 so this circuit is very special for me, even though the layout changes mean that it is a different venue now from the track that I used to enjoy so much. It's still a good circuit for the drivers and the fans however, because overtaking is possible, particularly on the long straight with late braking, which can make the racing more exciting. Your car needs to work well at Hockenheim, and with the hot and humid weather that we usually get, it can be a particularly challenging race for the car and the driver." Jenson Button: "Hockenheim is a circuit that I always enjoy and I have some great memories from previous races here after finishing on the podium in 2004 and 2005. There are some decent overtaking opportunities around the circuit and I enjoyed a good battle with Michael Schumacher for third place last year. It will be very difficult to achieve a similar result this time but testing went well in Jerez last week and we hope to see an improvement in our performance in the next few races." Gil de Ferran, Sporting Director: "Hockenheim is one of the more historic circuits that we go to, and it is quite appropriate that we celebrate our 300th GP at such a venue. Although the track layout has changed over the years, one main characteristic remains: it is a track quite conducive to overtaking, regularly producing great races. It is an interesting combination of slow and medium speed turns which, like the previous few races, will provide many challenges for us to cope with, particularly temperature and stresses on the rear tyres. Both our drivers have done well there in the past, and so has our car, which is always positive. We were encouraged by the test in Jerez last week and it seems that we have made a step in the right direction. Hopefully these results will translate well for the weekend." |
