BAR aims to continue strong start

The team currently lies seventh in the constructors' championship, having scored five points over the opening three races. Jacques Villeneuve finished sixth in Brazil, while team-mate Jenson Button came home seventh in Malaysia.

"This has probably been one of the best starts that BAR has had to a season and to get this many points after the first three races is a very positive step," said Villeneuve. "Things have always gone well for us at Imola and we've been very competitive. We also had a very good test here during the winter. We could hopefully have a shot at the podium."

Geoff Willis, the team's Technical director, said: "For Imola we have the latest specification engine from Honda, which we successfully tested at Paul Ricard last week. We were very competitive in testing at Imola before the start of the season and the drivers are feeling confident with the car, which is good over the kerbs and stable under braking - two very important factors for this circuit.

"Our race reliability has been good, so with each driver having scored points in one of the last two races, we now set our target on a two-car points finish."