Zoom End of the line for the anemic RA108

The championship reached its conclusion this afternoon in Brazil, where Honda came home in 13th and 15th positions. Rubens Barrichello and Jenson Button both improved on their 15th and 17th grid positions to give the team its tenth two-car finish of the year.

A thrilling season finale had everyone guessing before it had even begun, when a rain shower on the grid forced the start to be delayed while the cars switched to wet weather tyres. Both Honda drivers then made good get-aways and managed to steer clear of trouble at the first corner, where David Coulthard ended his final Grand Prix in the barrier and brought out the Safety Car.

The race restarted at the beginning of lap five with Barrichello in 11th place and Button in 14th. Barrichello lost a position to Nick Heidfeld on lap six and on the following lap. Button became one of the first drivers to pit for dry tyres. His team-mate switched to dries on lap nine and the Honda drivers circulated in the midfield for the middle segment of the race.

On lap 33 Button made his second pitstop, from which he rejoined in 15th place. Barrichello made his second stop on lap 40, emerging just ahead of the other Honda. They changed positions at Turn one on lap 43 and circulated in formation until Button made his third pitstop on lap 56.

Barrichello pitted for what should have been the final time on lap 64, just as rain was starting to fall again, and Button followed a lap later; both cars switched to extreme wets.

Just four laps from the end, Barrichello was forced to pit again after his tyres completely overheated because they did not suit the conditions, making this a busy day for the pit crew who performed eight faultless pitstops in all.

Barrichello ends the season with 11 championship points to his name, while Button recorded three. Honda took 14 points in the constructors's standings in what was a somewhat another transitional year for the team, which has been concentrating for some time already on next year's car and the new 2009 specs.

Jenson Button
"I had a good start to the race, making up three positions out of the first couple of corners, however from there we suffered from being held up in traffic. We made an unusual call on my strategy, pitting early and switching to what would have been a three-stop programme to avoid the traffic situation. When I did have clean air, the car's performance was actually not bad, however unfortunately the strategy didn't really work out for us."