Honda drivers upbeat for Spain

Although incidents and mechanical problems have left the team unable to repeat their podium finish from the Malaysian Grand Prix in the last three races, an upgraded engine from Honda has lifted hopes for Barcelona.

Button, who retired with an engine failure at last weekend's European Grand Prix, said: "It was a tough weekend at the Nurburgring so I'm looking ahead and focusing on Spain now. It's a circuit where you need to be strong aerodynamically and I think our car is good in that respect.

"The weather is likely to be nice and hot, which always suits us better and if we can resolve the engine problem from last weekend, I think we should be able to get a good result. I'm looking forward to the weekend."

Barrichello was equally confident that the team could shine. "I think we should do well there," he explained. "It was good to get some more points at the Nurburgring, although we lacked a little bit of pace. We have to work to improve on this for the weekend."

Honda are confident that they have got to the bottom of Button's failure from last weekend and that their new specification engine will be a step forward.  "Both drivers have a fresh engine this week, with the newest, more powerful specification," said Shuhei Nakamoto, Honda Racing's engineering director.

"We will have a countermeasure in place for the problem on Jenson's engine at the Nurburgring, and will be aiming to get closer to the front-runners."