The Honda Racing F1 Team heads to northern Italy this week for the penultimate European race of the 2007 Formula One season, the Italian Grand Prix held at the historic Monza circuit. Set in a leafy royal park just north of Milan, the circuit is the fastest on the Formula One calendar requiring a unique low-downforce set-up, and is a firm favourite for drivers, fans and the teams.

The team tested at this venue last week in preparation for this weekend’s race and it enabled them to find a good balance for the car around this high-speed circuit after running through different wing, tyre and chassis set-up options. Monza'a many straights will be a challenge for the Brackley based squad, however as in Turkey, they expect to be stronger in the race than in qualifying, enabling them to battle strongly with their mid-grid rivals.

"I always look forward to racing at Monza and it is a track that I really enjoy as the racing around there can be very exciting and the atmosphere over the weekend is always electric,” says Jenson Button. “Ascari is probably my favourite part of the track and you can have a lot of fun through there, particularly in a well-balanced car. It's a very fast lap with big braking points so you have concentrate hard the whole way round and make sure that you use the kerbs to your full advantage to take every tenth from the lap.”

“We tested here last week for four days which went well despite the unusually poor weather. We ran the car in the unique set-up required for Monza with a lower downforce setting than usual and it performed well. The race will be tough however I expect our performance to be more competitive than some of the recent races which gives cause for optimism."