Barrichello cautious about Honda progress

Aerodynamic and suspension modifications are being made to the Honda for the pre-Malaysian Grand Prix test at Sepang, and Barrichello is optimistic that they will help unleash more speed from his car.

But he has told autosport.com that he thinks it will take some time to overcome other issues with the RA107 - including brake stability problems - that have emerged during winter testing.

"The first race will be what it will be," said Barrichello, who was reluctant to make any predictions about how Honda will fare in Australia this weekend.

"Obviously, we know where the problem is - but it's really difficult to address it. There has been some things happening in the tunnel back at the factory with the team really working to make it happen.

"At the Malaysia test we're going to have lots of things to try. The important thing is to go on and find what makes the car better.

"The times that we can set with the problems we have, if we fix those problems we're going to go forwards by a big margin. So it depends - it's not going to be like going to the oven and opening the door and finding the food is cooked. And it's probably going to cause some other problems. It's a cycle that you have to grab it whenever it's available."

Although team boss Nick Fry said at the recent launch of his team's new livery that he was convinced the RA107 will be a winner, Barrichello is less certain.

"What I say is different - I take it from the other side, which is a bit frustrating. The car is not a bad car compared to some of the others I've driven in the past. You can see that it's not a bad car - but to come a race winner? We are still a long way off.

"It's the second V8 car that I've driven and it's better than last year's. But it's still a long way from being perfect like the Ferraris used to be."