Barrichello praises 'great' race

"It was in many ways a great race today, just with a difficult car," said Barrichello, whose Honda team have struggled for pace all weekend on a track where they expected things to go better.

"At least we were able to progress up the field and make a fight of it. As we expected, the car was slightly better in race trim and with a good strategy and great pit stops, we were able to improve on my starting position and challenge the people we were able to.

"Our engineers and mechanics did a great job this weekend, so I would like to thank them for their hard work and motivation. However there is no escaping the fact that this has been a painful weekend for us.

"We have a lot of hard work ahead at the test in Silverstone next week where we aim to improve the competitiveness of the car for the next few races with some new developments," added the Brazilian.

Teammate Jenson Button completed a dismal weekend at Magny-Cours by being the only retirement from the French race.

Button made contact with Sebastien Bourdais at the start, damaging the Honda in the incident. The Briton tried to continued but his car became undriveable and he retired.

"Going out of the race so early is a disappointing end to what has been a tough weekend for us," he said. "I got a good start and was alongside Bourdais. I thought he was going to turn in at turn one and close the door so I pulled in behind him and then unfortunately hit him in the rear as everything slowed down for the corner.

"I could feel that there was something broken at the front of the car as there was an air coming in from the front, but the car was driveable and I was staying with the back of the pack so I continued. However the front wing must have been loose as a result of the impact, as it dislodged itself when I went over the kerbs in the last chicane and got stuck under the front of the car.

"We replaced the nose but the bargeboards had been pulled off and the car had become undriveable so I had to retire. It's my home Grand Prix next and we have a busy programme at the Silverstone test next week to prepare, so we will stay positive and keep looking forward."