The 15th of April is the day that the 2007 Bahrain Grand Prix was held at the Bahrain International Circuit in Sakhir, Bahrain. The race is the third round of the 2007 Formula One season and it is also where team Honda suffered a frustrating race with only one driver making it to the checkered flag.
This year's Bahrain Grand Prix was won by the Brazilian Felipe Massa who was driving for the Scuderia Ferrari. Podium finishers include the rookie Lewis Hamilton driving for McLaren Mercedes at second, and Finn Kimi Raikkonen driving for Ferrari in third place. After the race in Bahrain, Hamilton set a record by becoming the first Formula One driver to ever have achieved podium finishes on his first three races as a Formula One driver.
While Ferrari and McLaren Mercedes are enjoying success at the 2007 Formula One season, team Honda is currently suffering a frustrating start to the 2007 season.
During the 2007 Bahrain Grand Prix, a four-vehicle accident eliminated Honda's Jenson Button from the contention. After the said accident which involved David Coulthard, Adrian Sutil, Scott Speed and Button, Honda faced the fact that they have only a car remaining in the race. At the opening lap of the race, Jenson Button accidentally hit the back of David Coulthard's car. After that, his car's anti-stall mechanism failed stopping the engine which forces Button to retire during the early stage of the race. Honda's other driver is former Ferrari driver Rubens Barrichello.
After the or the nose of the Barrichello's F1 car crossed the finish line, the team only managed to grab a 13th place finish at the race. The savvy veteran used a two-stop strategy during the race which saw him battling it out in the tracks with Ralf Schumacher. His subsequent finish allowed Honda technicians to gather date concerning his and Button's cars. The data gathered will be used by the team's engineers to improve their performance on the next race of the season.
After the race, Rubens Barrichello has this to say about his performance and what he thinks the future holds for the team: "Well I finished the race at least but that s very little consolation. The track conditions were so blustery and the car driveability was terrible, so it was a really tough race, especially knowing that we couldn't be competitive. Now we have to put a disappointing few races behind us and look to what we can do to improve the car. There is a great deal of hard work ahead of us but we will get there, I m sure."
As far as his performance and early exit, Jenson Button has this to say: "Got a good start and made up at least three places then at turn 2 Taku (Sato) ran wide, tried to squeeze me and I had nowhere to go so I had to go on the dirt on the inside. Then in turn 3 I had Coulthard and someone else fighting around me. DC went wide then cut back sharp and again I had nowhere to go. We touched and that spun me round then the anti-stall didn't cut in, I stalled and that was the end of my race after just three corners."
"The track conditions out there were very slippery and windy so it will have been a tough race for everyone," Button says of the track. "Sadly, I wasn't part of it," lamented Button.
After the 2007 Bahrain Grand Prix, the teams will have a four-week break before the next race, the 2007 Spanish Grand Prix. Honda will be using that time improves their car's performance which they hope will earn them a podium finish at the next race.
On the 13th of May, the team's engineer's efforts to improve Button's and Barrichello's cars will be put to the ultimate test as they battle with Spanish Fernando Alonso of McLaren and the rest of the Formula One roster.
