Barrichello happy to use Bridgestone again

Barrichello has driven on the Japanese rubber throughout his stay at Ferrari, where the team enjoyed a uniquely close relationship with the tyre maker.

And after struggling to drive on Michelin tyres once moving to Honda last year, the Brazilian now says he had a sense of familiarity when driving again on Bridgestones - even through the 2007 tyre is vastly different to that of 2005.

"I definitely see that the tyres, although you can see the difference from 2005, they are the same kind of animal," Barrichello said at the team's 2007 car launch in Barcelona.

"When I first came into the team (last year) I said that it would take a long time for me to adapt to the tyres, and it was true.

"But as soon as I drove the car on Bridgestones - especially because the team had put a lot of effort in terms of suspensions, in terms of aerodynamics, to compensate for the lose of grip... so as soon as I drove the Bridgestones, my feeling was that it was something that I know."

Barrichello also admitted he was particularly proud to have tested the new tyres in December, as he feels these tests helped the Honda engineers better prepare the new car to work well with the Bridgestones.

"It was fundamental to drive the car in December in Barcelona," Barrichello explained, "and honestly I think a lot of the new car has to do, especially on the suspension side, with the testing that we did in December with the tyres. So I'm proud of that."