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France: It's disappointing and unexpected
By Phil Huff June 21 2008
Ross Brawn spoke last week of an expected upturn in performance at Honda Racing F1, hoping to see the RA108 get in to the points in France on merit, and not due to retirements ahead. Thus far this weekend, he seems to be a little wide of the mark, with Jenson Button and Rubens Barrichello a distant 17th and 18th on the Magny Cours grid.
"The car doesn't feel too bad," said Jenson immediately after qualifying. "We're pretty much getting the maximum out of it, and that's just where it is."

Where it is, certainly in France, is some 1.3 seconds behind the fastest lap from Felipe Massa. However, perhaps things aren't quite as bad as they may first appear; Lewis Hamilton, the fourth fastest driver in the first qualifying session, was less than three quarters of a second ahead, demonstrating just how tightly packed the midfield is.

With a lot of work done in the recent Barcelona test on weight distribution, in order to improve the balance of the car, a circuit like Magny Cours should, in theory, suit the RA108. It appears that the circuit may also be suiting a lot of other cars, and that's caught Honda by surprise.

"It's disappointing to be 17th," added Button. "Hopefully we're more competitive in race trim. We couldn't have done more than a 16.3 here, and it's disappointing and unexpected."

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