Di Grassi hopefully of Honda berth

Thursday 20th November 2008

Lucas Di Grassi has played down his race with compatriot Bruno Senna to secure a seat at Honda for the 2009 season.

The two Brazilians both enjoyed two days of testing with the team in Barcelona over the past week as they vie for a seat alongside Jenson Button.

With veteran Rubens Barrichello seemingly certain to lose his place with Honda, the two youngsters appear to be the leading contenders to replace the former Ferrari man.

However, Di Grassi is just pleased to see so many of his countrymen involved in the fight for F1 places.

"I'm proud there are so many Brazilians fighting for the seat," he told Autosport.

"It means we are really good. I don't think it's about nationalities."

After a disappointing first day of testing in which he recorded the slowest time of the day - nearly five seconds off the pace, the 24-year-old bounced back on day two to finish tenth fastest, five hundredth of a second behind prospective team-mate Jenson Button.

Di Grassi is hopefully that his performance in Barcelona along with his success in GP2 will be enough to secure his spot.

"Just because me and Bruno have done a very good job in GP2 Honda chose us to do the test. I hope I get the drive and do a good season next year."

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