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Honda confirm lineup for 2008

Posted: Fri Jul 20, 2007 8:01 pm
by Ed
The Honda Racing team has confirmed that both Jenson Button and Rubens Barrichello will remain with the team in 2008. A statement by the team read:

HONDA RACING F1 TEAM 2008 DRIVER LINE-UP TO REMAIN UNCHANGED

The Honda Racing F1 Team can confirm that Jenson Button and Rubens Barrichello will remain as team-mates for a third consecutive year when they race together for Honda in 2008.

The team will benefit from the stability and wealth of experience that Jenson and Rubens bring, as it works towards an improved second half of the 2007 season and looks forward to a more competitive 2008.

2008 will be Jenson's sixth year as a Honda driver, having joined the team in 2003. Rubens, who came to the team in 2006, will be entering his third season.

Jenson Button
Although we are still very firmly focused on the current season, I am excited about the opportunity that we have for 2008. It goes without saying that 2007 has been extremely frustrating but over the past few races we have gradually started to see some improvement. We have not had the performance to be competitive this year but what we do have is a very solid team of people which has been boosted recently by some key new appointments. Every team has good times and bad and I am confident that our recent difficulties are now behind us and that next year looks promising.
Rubens Barrichello
I am delighted to confirm that I am staying with Honda for 2008. When I came here in 2006, it was always my intention to develop a long-term relationship and help build a strong team together. 2007 has been tough so far but I believe we are heading in the right direction again. In addition to the great team we have already, there are some good new people coming on board and I have confidence that we will make progress now. Jenson and I have a great relationship together as team-mates and stability will be key as we look forward to the challenge of 2008. For now though, we have eight races remaining and that is where our focus lies.

Re: Honda confirm lineup for 2008

Posted: Fri Jul 20, 2007 10:33 pm
by gkaytaz
Good move. It's the car that needs changing, not the drivers :up: :)

Re: Honda confirm lineup for 2008

Posted: Fri Jul 20, 2007 11:59 pm
by jacfan
gkaytaz wrote:Good move. It's the car that needs changing, not the drivers :up: :)
Should turn Rubens upside down and check his "use by" or "best before" date. :wink:

Re: Honda confirm lineup for 2008

Posted: Sat Jul 21, 2007 9:24 am
by Julian Mayo
jacfan wrote:
gkaytaz wrote:Good move. It's the car that needs changing, not the drivers :up: :)
Should turn Rubens upside down and check his "use by" or "best before" date. :wink:
Who would go there?

Re: Honda confirm lineup for 2008

Posted: Sat Jul 21, 2007 1:17 pm
by jacfan
Julian Mayo wrote:
jacfan wrote:
gkaytaz wrote:Good move. It's the car that needs changing, not the drivers :up: :)
Should turn Rubens upside down and check his "use by" or "best before" date. :wink:
Who would go there?
Good point. :roll: Not me that is for sure.

Re: Honda confirm lineup for 2008

Posted: Sat Jul 21, 2007 1:32 pm
by Julian Mayo
jacfan wrote:
Julian Mayo wrote:
jacfan wrote:Should turn Rubens upside down and check his "use by" or "best before" date. :wink:
Who would go there?
Good point. :roll: Not me that is for sure.
Geez, I would, any F1 car will do me :lol:

Re: Honda confirm lineup for 2008

Posted: Sat Jul 21, 2007 4:48 pm
by gkaytaz
Julian Mayo wrote:
jacfan wrote:
Julian Mayo wrote:
Who would go there?
Good point. :roll: Not me that is for sure.
Geez, I would, any F1 car will do me :lol:
That's the job of a test driver... :)

Speaking of which, who'll test for Honda?

Posted: Sat Jul 21, 2007 9:27 pm
by jacfan
Good question Gkay. Perhaps they haven't picked their test drivers yet.

Posted: Sat Jul 21, 2007 9:44 pm
by gkaytaz
jacfan wrote:Good question Gkay. Perhaps they haven't picked their test drivers yet.
Ralf could do that for them :wink:

Posted: Sun Jul 22, 2007 2:24 am
by Julian Mayo
gkaytaz wrote:
jacfan wrote:Good question Gkay. Perhaps they haven't picked their test drivers yet.
Ralf could do that for them :wink:
Sheeit, wake up guys........Ralf is nearly as quick as Bro..............so are most of the Pilots around the F1 Circus.
Schu had the ability to speak with the techos and the spanner guys, and the tyre guys, and the tea lady, and explain to them what he needed to go quick.
Result.......a quick guy in a quick car will do better than a very quick guy in a barge.
Ralf imho is lacking the abilty to have his crew dial in his car.
Webber can take his car by the scruff of the neck and throw it way up the Qual list, cos he can talk to the engineers, spanner guys etc.........Nick Learned from Webbo who learned from everyone he has ever come into contact with......including the best from Mercedes
Kubica is another who is good at engineering feedback
Iffin you think you are great, The Lap Data Print Out will confirm or deny 8)

Posted: Sun Jul 22, 2007 5:57 am
by gkaytaz
Julian Mayo wrote:
Sheeit, wake up guys........Ralf is nearly as quick as Bro..............so are most of the Pilots around the F1 Circus.
Schu had the ability to speak with the techos and the spanner guys, and the tyre guys, and the tea lady, and explain to them what he needed to go quick.
Result.......a quick guy in a quick car will do better than a very quick guy in a barge.
Ralf imho is lacking the abilty to have his crew dial in his car.
Webber can take his car by the scruff of the neck and throw it way up the Qual list, cos he can talk to the engineers, spanner guys etc.........Nick Learned from Webbo who learned from everyone he has ever come into contact with......including the best from Mercedes
Kubica is another who is good at engineering feedback
Iffin you think you are great, The Lap Data Print Out will confirm or deny 8)
Ralf isn't very quick, neither is Toyota a barge. I think Ralf should have been a winner in the Toyota. Yet fails even to get into the top six. Whatever reason, he is not giving it all.

Posted: Thu Jul 26, 2007 6:13 am
by F1greyhound
RALF is very quick in the right car. He was faster than FISICO and JUAN PABLO, he won GPs, he beat his brother, he is faster than JARNO, the TOYOTA 2007 is close to crap....one shouldnt forget that!

As for HONDA - good decision, nothing wrong with the drivers. Come on JENSON!

Posted: Thu Jul 26, 2007 6:35 pm
by gkaytaz
F1greyhound wrote:RALF is very quick in the right car. He was faster than FISICO and JUAN PABLO, he won GPs, he beat his brother, he is faster than JARNO, the TOYOTA 2007 is close to crap....one shouldnt forget that!

As for HONDA - good decision, nothing wrong with the drivers. Come on JENSON!
I beg to differ.

Ralf is a good driver but quite a few of the F1 drivers are very quick in the right car. He was not faster than Fisichella or Montoya. Only in 2001, Montoya's maiden season, Ralf managed to outperform Montoya. In that season Ralf had had 7 retirements whereas Montoya had 11.

And remember what had happened after he left Jordan? He had done relatively well driving that outdated engine, scoring a couple of podiums in 1998. Then he went to Williams, and Frentzen, who replaced him scored two wins and four podiums in Ralf's ex-Jordan.

I agree Ralf was generally faster than Trulli but I believe it's Trulli who's slower... You know "the Trulli train". Toyotas perform miserably on the track, that is a given, but even so Ralf is not really quicker than Trulli (he outscored him by merely 3 and 7 pts the last 2 seasons), especially this year.

Ralf is good, never exceptional. He was fast but now past his prime.

Posted: Tue Aug 07, 2007 8:39 am
by Julian Mayo
Breaking news !!!! Honda are replacing their current line up of drivers with two Barge-men. 8)