Barrichello encouraged by Honda showing

On the back of a disappointing race in Canada last weekend, Barrichello bounced back and put on a solid performance both in qualifying and in the race.

Barrichello had qualified in fourth position and finished in sixth, 36 seconds behind race winner Michael Schumacher.

In Canada, the Brazilian had retired while his teammate Jenson Button finished in ninth, a lap down.

"It was a long and tough race this afternoon but I'm pleased to finish in a good points position," said the Brazilian. "The car was really quite nice to drive and we had chosen an aggressive strategy in qualifying. The conditions out there were also really hard with the 37 degree heat.

"It was a real shame that only nine cars finished because I wanted the US fans to have a great race this year. There was a lot of action for them but the first lap incident was unfortunate. We have had a much more positive weekend here and I think if we work hard we can continue improving.

"We now have a busy test coming up in Jerez next week to evaluate some developments for France, where I hope we will begin a much better second half of the season."

Teammate Button was involved in the first corner mayhem and was forced to retire.