Bahrain Grand Prix: Free Practice & Qualifying

The Honda Racing F1 Team's Jenson Button was the third fastest driver today in the first of the new-for-2006 knock-out style qualifying sessions in Bahrain. At the end of an action-packed hour of fevered activity in the garage and on the racetrack, Jenson posted a time just 0.10 secs behind pole position and declared the new qualifying format a success, despite missing out on a front row grid slot.

His new team-mate Rubens Barrichello was less happy with the set-up the car in the qualifying hour and will start tomorrow's 57 lap Bahrain Grand Prix form the third row of the grid.

Jenson Button		Rubens Barrichello

JENSON BUTTON
Free Practice 3 Position: 1st Fastest lap time: 1:31.857
Qualifying Position: 3rd Lap time: 1:31.549
“I'm reasonably happy with third place. We had a good qualifying strategy but it was difficult to be consistent and get good clean runs because of the track conditions. The wind was an issue again today but it was gusting in a different direction to yesterday, so the track was still a bit of an unknown quantity. Looking at how the new qualifying panned out, for me it was very exciting. It was nonstop for me in the car and it must have been great for the fans watching at home. Traffic is always an issue with this format but we'll get used to it I'm sure and I think the team did a great job of handling what must have been a very pressured session. On to tomorrow now when we'll see how everyone's fuel strategies play out. It should be a great race and I'm looking forward to it.”

RUBENS BARRICHELLO
Free Practice 3 Position: 12th Fastest lap time: 1:34.009
Qualifying Position: 6th Lap time: 1:32.579
&ldquoI; think it was okay to be 6th today because I was struggling big time with the set-up of the car through yesterday and this morning.We analysed the problem earlier today and we felt sure there was room for improvement, so we changed things for qualifying and it was a little better. Now we just need to see what the race brings tomorrow.”

GIL DE FERRAN, SPORTING DIRECTOR
“From where we were standing this must have been one of the most exciting and tense sessions we experienced to date! It all started early with the red flag in Q1, that forced us to quickly adapt our running plan to ensure we were going to make it to the last elimination round, which we did and came very close to being on the front row. Jenson had to contend with traffic and did a great job fighting for pole all the way. Rubens wasn't entirely happy with the balance of his car, nevertheless is in a good position on the third row. Although we just went through our first qualifying session of the year, there are still a lot of unknowns in terms of strategy
for tomorrow. As we said prior to the event, we look forward to the race when the picture will become much clearer!”

SHUHEI NAKAMOTO, ENGINEERING DIRECTOR, HONDA RACING DEVELOPMENT
“The new qualifying format was an interesting challenge! Both drivers showed their experience and did a calm and solid job. Until the other teams' fuel loads become clear tomorrow in the race it's hard to make a prediction, but I think we are in quite good shape.The engine is running well and we're looking forward to the race.”

SUPER AGURI F1 TEAM team is on the grid for the 2006 Grand Prix of Bahrain!

During the third practice session that took place this morning Takuma Sato was able to improve his fastest lap time set yesterday by over half a second. In a reverse of fortunes, a drive shaft problem brought Yuji Ide's running to a premature end following an impressive start to the weekend by SUPER AGURI F1 TEAM team's new rising ‘son'.
The team worked unremittingly to ensure that Yuji's car would be ready for the first qualifying session under the new knock-out format. Following an exciting and eventful first session of the afternoon, the SUPER AGURI F1 drivers qualified in 20th and 21st positions for the grid tomorrow, ahead of McLaren's Kimi Raikkonen.

Aguri Suzuki & Takuma Sato		Yuji Ide

TAKUMA SATO Car 22 (SA05-02)
FP 3-Position 21 Fastest Lap Time 1:36.994
QUALIFYING Grid Position 20 Lap Time 1:37.411
“Well done to everyone in the team - I am delighted with the result. Both cars qualified and we are on the grid for the race tomorrow, which was our target for this weekend of course, but is a great achievement by the team. We have to work hard on improving our performance going forward, but for now we have accomplished everything that we wanted to achieve so far this weekend and we hope that both cars have a good race tomorrow.”

YUJI IDE Car 23 (SA05-03)
FP 3 Position 22 Fastest Lap Time 1:41.889
QUALIFYING Grid Position 21 Lap Time 1:38.868
“Everything happened so quickly in the qualifying session; it felt like it happened in few minutes. It was so short that I didn't have time to be nervous or excited. My first F1 qualifying time is not fast and even though I am not in the last position, I am the practically the last! However, I am confident that I could get a higher qualifying position as the season progresses and I am very happy to be able to race tomorrow and will do my very best to finish the race safely. I am very grateful to the mechanics for their hard work in making sure that I am on the grid tomorrow.”

AGURI SUZUKI, TEAM PRINCIPAL
“I am glad we will be able to have both cars on the grid tomorrow. Yuji had a hard time during the practice and the red flag made the situation tougher for him, but I am glad he will be on the starting grid. We have to move up step-by-step, and I am glad that we will be able to make our very first step forward into the F1 world tomorrow.”