With next year's engine specs due to be frozen after this weekend, the team will hope for better reliability in Shanghai, particularly as the following round takes them to
Honda's home race, the Japanese Grand Prix, at the Honda-owned Suzuka circuit. The team continued to push the development of the RA106 and RA806E engine with six days of intensive testing in
Jerez over the past two weeks. These tests provided the final opportunity for Barrichello and Button to develop of the latest specification V8 before thirty tonnes of freight was packed up and sent on its way to Shanghai.
"The Shanghai circuit is extremely impressive but, more importantly, it has a challenging track layout," Barrichello reflected, "The venue holds some pretty special memories for me as I won the very first grand prix there from pole position in 2004.
"With three races left of the season, my aim is to put the car into a podium position and I believe that we can deliver the performance to achieve this.
The tests in Jerez have been very positive, with developments on the aero and electronics packages, plus intensive evaluation of the tyres for Shanghai and the final races. Importantly, the car and engine were very reliable and we hope that this will enable us to continue the strong performance that we have shown over the last three races."
Button, meanwhile, will be racing for results this weekend as, despite there still being 30 points on offer this season, he appears marooned in sixth place in the championship, with a 17-point gap to Raikkonen and Fisichella ahead of him and 15 back to team-mate Barrichello behind.
"The Chinese Grand Prix has quickly become one of my favourite races on the calendar and the atmosphere at the race for the last two years has been fantastic," the Briton commented, "The circuit is very technical and quite demanding for the drivers, but also fun to drive, with the stand-out feature being the length of the corners, particularly turn one which is tough on the neck.
