Barrichello hopeful of reaching Q2

The Brazilian, 15th quickest in today's practice, has not been able to make it past Q1 in the last eight races, but the Honda racer reckons he could end the streak tomorrow if the tracks stays dry.

"Just like last year, we have had a dry first day of practice and by the end of the afternoon we were able to achieve a reasonable balance with the car on new tyres," said Barrichello.

"The weather forecast for the weekend looks interesting so we need to take a close look at that. However if it stays dry, then I believe we have a chance to progress to the second qualifying session."

Jenson Button completed a slow start to the weekend for Honda, the Briton finishing at the bottom of the times.

Button admitted he was struggling for grip.

"We were able to make progress on the balance of the car on older tyres by the end of the afternoon session, however achieving a good balance was our main problem throughout the day," said Button.

"On new tyres at the end of the second session, I just had very little grip and it felt like the tyres were graining immediately. We will have to look at the reasons for this ahead of qualifying tomorrow."