Herbert: R1 will be competitive

Neither Herbert or new team-mate Eddie Irvine were able to run many laps at last week's Barcelona test, due to on-going problems with an oil pump failure.

Engine builder Cosworth is hoping to fix the problem before this week's tests at the same venue.

Herbert is confident the car will be ready to challenge the front-runners at the Formula 1 opener at Melbourne on March 12.

"What we can still go on is what we had in the first test," said Herbert.

"The indications were good, and obviously now it's a case of working on the reliability side.

"At the moment we're not too concerned, and things should be fixed by the time we get to Melbourne - and probably by our last big test in Jerez [February 23-25]

"We've been stopping a lot and losing a lot of track time, which is frustrating.

"The feeling of the car has been very positive, but like everyone else, we've got to improve it a bit more. We're okay - if we can do what we did in the first test, we'll be absolutely fine. I'm still optimistic as we stand today."