Jenson Button is shouldering the blame for an embarrassing incident which saw the two Hondas clip each other, causing Button to lose his front wing.
Although the Honda team found some pace this weekend, it was still torrid, with Honda ‘B’ team Super Aguri out-pacing them. Their weekend didn’t get any better when Button came out of the pitlane alongside team-mate Rubens Barrichello. In trying to keep out of each others way, Button clipped a kerb on the first corner and slid into Barrichello’s car, breaking his own front wing in the process.
“We had a good strategy and have been working towards the race all weekend, so I think we were on target for a better day today,” Button said. “Unfortunately, as I exited the pit lane after my first stop, I hit the kerb on the apex and that threw me offline. I lost my front wing as I touched the right rear of Rubens’ car and I had to come back in for a nose change and that was that really in terms of fighting for a point.”
Barrichello doesn’t appear to be holding a grudge though and is seemingly content with the improvements to the car. “A better race today in terms of our overall performance and handling of the car,” Barrichello began. “But we just don’t have the pace to improve our final position significantly.
“I had left Jenson enough room at Turn 1. It’s a shame, but just one of those racing incidents. We have the four-day test at Paul Ricard this week and I hope we can see another small step forward by Monaco.”
