Richards: BAR can Deliver at Imola

Jenson Button's BAR can be the best of the rest at Imola this weekend even if Ferrari remain dominant, says team boss David Richards.

"This year we promised to take the fight to the top three teams and our current position in the drivers' and constructors' standings clearly shows that we can deliver against that target," he said.

"Jenson is on a roll at the moment and the onus is on both team and driver in equal measure to maintain this momentum," he added in a team preview for Sunday's San Marino Grand Prix at Imola.

"The challenge for us now is to maintain the fight with Williams and Renault, whilst finding a way of chipping away at Ferrari's dominance."

Briton Button is third in the Championship after three races, behind six-times World Champion Michael Schumacher and his Ferrari teammate Rubens Barrichello, and was the only non-Ferrari driver on the podium at the last race in Bahrain.

BAR are fourth but level on points with third placed Williams in the Constructors' Championship, three behind Renault. Schumacher has won all three races this season from pole position and has been victorious at Imola's Enzo and Dino Ferrari circuit four times in the last five years.

But Button was third in Malaysia and Bahrain and was confident of another strong performance at Imola, the first race of the season in Europe. After Bahrain, BAR were reliable and very quick in testing with Button and Japan's Takuma Sato at Barcelona and Le Castellet in the south of France.

"The speed we have shown is very positive so I think that we should be quite competitive in Imola," said Button.

Technical director Geoff Willis said BAR would be introducing a revised aerodynamic and engine package for the fourth round of the season.

"We introduced a revised braking system in Bahrain, which we were very happy with, and the Michelin tyres are well-suited to circuits with high traction demands," he said. "Generally speaking, we have every confidence that we will be able to sustain our challenge next weekend."