Honda duo optimistic after Monza test

Button ended this week's test at Monza on top of the timesheets and both he and his teammate are confident that their RA106 will be more competitive at the low downforce circuits than they were at the British Grand Prix.

"We really had a good test," Button told autosport.com. "We did 140 laps, which is almost 800 kilometres, on the last day and it was great to be on top of the timesheets.

"We worked on the downforce levels for Canada and carried out some tyre tests. We look competitive and hopefully the car will be more competitive than what we had in Silverstone."

Barrichello was equally bullish - although admitting that Honda's pace was slightly flattered by the level of downforce that the team were running.

"It is okay," he said. "We seem to be a lot more competitive than we thought but I think other teams are carrying more wing than us.

"So it is hard to tell exactly how quick we are, but Jenson seems to have found some good tyres."

The only major blot on the test was an engine failure suffered by Button on the second day. It comes after he was forced out of his home race with an oil leak on the engine.

"The engine failure was disappointing but the guys know what went wrong. I will get a fresh engine anyway in Montreal, so let's see."