The Honda Racing F1 Team can confirm that Jenson Button and Rubens Barrichello will remain as teammates for a third consecutive year when they race together for Honda in 2008. The team will benefit from the stability and wealth of experience that Jenson and Rubens bring, as it works towards an improved second half of the 2007 season and looks forward to a more competitive 2008. 2008 will be Jenson's sixth year as a Honda driver….

"Although we are still very firmly focused on the current season, I am excited about the opportunity that we have for 2008,” the young Brit said. “It goes without saying that 2007 has been extremely frustrating but over the past few races we have gradually started to see some improvement. We have not had the performance to be competitive this year but what we do have is a very solid team of people which has been boosted recently by some key new appointments. Every team has good times and bad and I am confident that our recent difficulties are now behind us and that next year looks promising."

After months of speculation with certain other media outlets claiming he would retire at the end of the current season, Rubens, who came to the team in 2006, will now be entering his third season, confirming what he told us here at automoto365.com several months ago, retirement couldn’t be further from his thoughts… 

"I am delighted to confirm that I am staying with Honda for 2008,” he said. “When I came here in 2006, it was always my intention to develop a long-term relationship and help build a strong team together. 2007 has been tough so far but I believe we are heading in the right direction again. In addition to the great team we have already, there are some good new people coming on board and I have confidence that we will make progress now. Jenson and I have a great relationship together as team-mates and stability will be key as we look forward to the challenge of 2008. For now though, we have eight races remaining and that is where our focus lies."