Barrichello: Dramatic changes paid off

"We have changed the car dramatically since the Monza test as we were simply not competitive then," said Barrichello after practice for the Italian Grand Prix.

"It's good that the car had a different reaction to the track today and I can feel that the balance has improved.

"We can't read too much into the levels of our performance as the track conditions were not ideal and it depends what our competitors were doing.

"So we need to continue our analysis overnight and plan our approach for qualifying tomorrow carefully," added the Brazilian, who posted the 14th fastest time.

Jenson Button echoed Barrichello's thoughst, the Briton saying he felt a lot more confident with the car.

"The car feels very different today to the test here at the end of August," Button, 15th quickest, said. "I have a lot more confidence in the braking stability and we have made other positive changes to the mechanical balance.

"Considering that we were not able to complete many laps today, we have certainly made a step in the right direction since the test. However there is still a great deal of work required this evening to look at how we can progress from here over the rest of the weekend."