Formula One Recap
Fuji: Honda Racing F1 team's Jenson Button and Rubens Barrichello battled through atrocious weather conditions at Fuji Speedway, bringing their RA107s home in 10th and 11th positions. The rain-soaked 67-lap race promised much for Honda, with Button lining up in sixth position on the grid. But a coming together with Nick Heidfeld on lap 21 (where he lost his front wing), a throttle problem and a couple of Safety Car periods played against him and he was eventually forced to park his car on the final lap after Takuma Sato hit him, resulting in a damaged suspension.
Barrichello, meanwhile, started in 17th place, dropped back to 19th during early laps but battled his way through to 12th by the time of the second Safety Car period in lap 42. Barrichello later climbed to seventh but ultimately finished 10th. "It's hugely frustrating that we weren't able to take advantage of our strong qualifying performance in the race today," Button says. "The conditions and visibility were so bad that it felt really dangerous out there and it was really difficult to keep the tires warm enough to be effective."
China: Button re-confirmed his position as one of Formula One's greatest wet weather players when he brought his RA107 home in fifth position in the Chinese Grand Prix. He bettered Honda's championship tally by four crucial points and achieved the team's best performance of the season. Barrichello, meanwhile, endured a tough race, finishing 15th.
Conditions were hot, wet and humid for the start of the 56-lap race at the Shanghai International Circuit. Both Honda drivers began with wet tires and Button lost one position away from the line to end the opening lap in 11th place. He spent the next 23 laps mixing it in the midfield until making his first pit stop on lap 24, where he became one of the first drivers to switch to dry tires.
For the next 18 laps Button charged through the field, setting a series of fastest lap times. He immediately found grip, which enabled him to climb up to fourth but then dropped to fifth, which is where things ended up. Barrichello's race was compromised on lap two when he was running in 15th place. As he braked for Turn 1, he collided with Anthony Davidson and dropped to the back of the field.
Brazil: The 71-lap Brazilian Grand Prix took place in scorching temperatures at the Interlagos circuit. The 100-degree temps made for tough conditions for the drivers, while track temperatures reached a 142-degree high, making tire durability an issue. Barrichello and Button lined up in 11th and 16th positions on the grid and made good starts, however, Barrichello was handed a drive-through penalty for jumping the start. He took the penalty on lap eight while in 10th place and rejoined in 17th position. He did well to battle back to 11th place on his home circuit but he was forced to retire on lap 41. Button made up two places at the start and was running in 10th place when his engine lost power on lap 22 and he was forced to pull over.