Barrichello called to test at Vallelunga

The Brazilian, who was not scheduled to test at the Italian track, struggled with the handling and set-up of his car throughout the Malaysian Grand Prix and a switch to the team's spare car before qualifying failed to improve matters.

He will be one of the few racing drivers who will return to Europe following the Malaysian Grand Prix.

Barrichello still lacked the pace of teammate Jenson Button in the race and the team will be hoping that his day's running in Italy on Thursday will help him get more to grips with the car.

Team boss Nick Fry said at the weekend that the team were not surprised that Barrichello was taking time to get up to speed with his new surroundings.

"The car is different from the Ferrari, and he's learning about the team," he told speedtv.com. "I think everyone expected that it would take a little bit of time to get up to speed. We haven't got any particular concerns."

Honda Racing technical director Geoff Willis was more upbeat about Barrichello's situation on Sunday night, however, claiming the Brazilian could have got in the points in Malaysia if it was not for a stop-go penalty he got for speeding in the pit-lane.

"It was disappointing," he said. "The stop-go dropped him back and stopped him fighting for points. The last few laps were pretty strong but overall this was not the result we wanted. But it was a good performance by the team. It's a tough race for reliability."