Drivers bemoan Honda's poor form

Neither Jenson Button nor Rubens Barrichello made it out of the first session of qualifying and both drivers felt that they had got the most out of the car.

Button said: "A very disappointing qualifying session today. The car was well balanced and we are pretty much getting the maximum performance from it, however unfortunately our pace reflects where we are at this track.

"My last run was slow as I was called into the weighbridge and then had to wait in the pit box as there was not enough time to go back into the garage before my final run.

"That meant that my tyres had cooled down which compromised my lap, although I don't think we could have improved enough to go through to Q2 anyway.

"Hopefully we can be more competitive in race trim but it's disappointing and unexpected as we thought that the car would perform better around this circuit."

Barrichello added: "A pure lack of performance from the car today. The laptimes have been very close all weekend but unfortunately we are at the lower end of the grid.

"We are really pushing the limit of the car to try and achieve more pace but it is evident from how close Jenson and I have been all weekend that there is no more to come from the car.

"Having achieved a good balance after practice, it's hard to accept the lack of pace, but we just have to try and do our best from here and see what the race will bring."

Honda's head of race and test engineering Steve Clark said he was hopeful that the drop-off of form this weekend was not indicative of what will come for the team in the second half of the season.

"On paper this is a track which should play to our strengths much more than Montreal, so we have been rather surprised and disappointed," explained Clark. "Magny-Cours has always been a little unusual in terms of set-up and we have to hope that our pace deficit is specific to this race and that our form will return for the next few races.

"Considering how close the grids are then a few tenths in performance can make a huge difference in position. We hope that our forthcoming developments will mean we can still look forward to a competitive second half of the season.

"For now though we feel a little more confident in our race pace, so our focus is doing what we can to improve the car for tomorrow."