B*A*R Honda's Italian Grand Prix ended with frustration today as the team was unable to carry a promising qualifying result into this afternoon's race. Jenson Button finished 8th to secure a further Championship point but today the team fell short of expectation as a fuel rig problem at Takuma's first stop and a general lack of pace hampered the team's progress.

Both Jenson and Takuma made good starts off the line, Takuma dropping a place into the first corner but regaining it by the end of the first lap. When he made his first scheduled pitstop on lap 15, the fuel rig indicated that the delivery may have been unsuccessful and the team was forced to exercise caution in bringing him in again on the next lap. This unscheduled stop completely threw what it transpires would have been a promising strategy and he finished the race a disappointing 16th.

JENSON BUTTON
Position: 8th
Best Lap Time: 1:23.161

"Apart from qualifying we have struggled the whole weekend here. We have found this a difficult circuit and it has been tough getting to grips with the low downforce configuration. We had problems with the fuel rig which also meant that I had to stop four laps early and that cost me on the final result. Hopefully when we return to the higher downforce circuits of the next four races we will be able to get back on the pace."

TAKUMA SATO
Position: 16th
Best Lap Time: 1:23.341

"It was a disappointing race and a sad result for us. The start was quite exciting for me. I defended my position into turn one, but I was already side by side with Trulli and at the end of lap one I overtook him again and gained a position which was an exciting moment. During the first stint everything looked fine but when I came to my first pitstop we had some trouble with refuelling and so when I went back out again after the second stop the car became difficult to handle as it was very heavy and I lost a lot of grip. It's a shame as the weekend up to this point had been good for us, but we have to look forward to next weekend in Spa."

GIL DE FERRAN, SPORTING DIRECTOR
"Obviously we were hoping for a better result after starting both cars on the second row. After a good start things were going fairly well, however we had a problem with the fuel delivery with both drivers during their first stop which compromised our strategy, particularly for Taku who had to do an extra stop. Furthermore the handling on both cars deteriorated during the race reducing our pace significantly. Although we are disappointed with this weekend's results we are looking forward to a very different challenge in Spa."

SHUHEI NAKAMOTO, ENGINEERING DIRECTOR, HONDA RACING DEVELOPMENT
"Clearly a disappointing day. Although we had some fuel rig problems in the race it does not hide the fact we did not have enough pace this weekend. I am sure Spa will suit us better."

2005 Italian Grand Prix - Main Page
2005 Italian Grand Prix - Team and Driver Race Reports Page

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