Honda Hope to Give Button a Boost at Silverstone

Honda hope to give BAR's Jenson Button a boost for his home British Grand Prix next month as the team moves closer to a first Formula One victory.

"This year our plan was to have fewer (engine) updates and more significant ones," Honda Racing Development vice-president Otmar Szafnauer said at the Canadian Grand Prix on Friday. "Our first one was at Imola, the second one is here and that is still the case. We have brought more power and our engine is a bit more fuel efficient here as well.

"The next update was planned for Hockenheim but with our recent performance we are not winning races so we are trying to bring that forward by a race to Silverstone."

The British Grand Prix is on July 11th. Button is third overall in the Championship and has been on the podium five times this season while Japanese teammate Takuma Sato has yet to finish in the top three after suffering several engine failures.

Szafnauer said Honda had looked into the problem and exonerated the driver. "It's the luck of the draw really," he said. "We have spent a lot of time analysing the data on both drivers and there is nothing to point at one driver versus the other.

"It's not driving style, it's just circumstances of the race and those are different so it is not a Takuma problem, per se."