French Grand Prix: Free Practice& Qualifying

Lucky Strike B·A·R Honda’s Takuma Sato will start tomorrow’s 70-lap French Grand Prix from the second row of the grid in 4th place, with team-mate Jenson Button in 7th position.

Takuma Sato		Takuma Sato

Both drivers carried the momentum of a productive morning’s work through to good qualifying runs. Takuma’s lap was good enough to split the drivers of each of the team’s main competitors and he will start tomorrow’s race in the thick of the action. Both drivers are feeling confident for an exciting race.

Jenson Button		Jenson Button

TAKUMA SATO
Free Practice 3 – Position: 13th / Fastest lap time: No timed lap
Free Practice 4 – Position: 6th / Fastest lap time: 1:15.177
Qualifying – Position: 5th (will start 4th) / Lap Time: 1:14.655
" I enjoyed my lap today and the car performed well. We have split the Renaults and the McLarens, so that is a real bonus for the team. I am very happy for everyone who has worked extremely hard in the run-up to this weekend and for carrying over the momentum from the last two races to this high downforce and very different circuit. It puts us in a good position for the race tomorrow and I am really looking forward to being on the second row of the grid and right in the middle of the action.”

JENSON BUTTON
Free Practice 3 – Position: 5th / Fastest lap time: 1:27.276
Free Practice 4 – Position: 9th / Fastest lap time: 1:15.228
Qualifying – Position: 8th (will start 7th) / Lap time: 1:15.051
“ It was a reasonable lap and I think I did all I could to get the most from the car today. The circuit is in much better shape than it was this morning and the times are reasonably good for a qualifying session. I think that we are in a good position for tomorrow and that we can have a competitive race from where we are starting on the grid, as the car has been performing well this weekend.”

GIL DE FERRAN, SPORTING DIRECTOR
" We are reasonably happy with our qualifying today. Both Taku and Jenson had clean laps and made the most of the car. The weather was quite different today which made for an interesting challenge setting the cars up this morning. If you look at the qualifying times it’s easy to see how close everyone is, which should make for a very exciting race tomorrow."

SHUHEI NAKAMOTO, ENGINEERING DIRECTOR, HONDA RACING DEVELOPMENT
“ The track conditions were not so good this morning so we conducted most of our running in the second free practice session when the circuit had started to improve. Taku and Jenson did a very good job to make solid progress with the qualifying and race set-up and we are pleased to achieve such good grid positions as a result. Tomorrow should bring an exciting race and we are hopeful for a strong points finish for both drivers.”