"Here we do too much PR and we think too little about driving," Rubens told Autosprint magazine. "I'm fighting to change this situation. This year I've lost time, with the team, to get used to drive this Honda."

A problem earlier in the year was with the traction control. While Jenson's smooth driving style meant he suffered little from a perceived weakness of the system, Rubens' style meant the system was working against him.

"In the end, I think Ferrari's traction control was the strongest," explains Barrichello. "It worked really well. The Honda one doesn't work as well and it's on its development that I've worked all year. To drive like this, for my style, is really... scary. I had to spend a lot of time on it. Therefore everything I've managed to do this year I consider it good.

"Of course, we've moved in the meantime to the V8 engine and there is also the power at the low-end that is not ok," added Rubens, "but this is an extra situation."

Rubens lays a lot of blame at the teams door, explaining that the Brackley based squad were reluctant to change systems to meet the drivers needs, despite evidence that things were clearly wrong.

"At the beginning of the year I had a problem with the brakes," commented Barrichello. "We could not understand why a brake disc was 100°C hotter than the other one. And they [the team] didn't want to change the system.

Surprisingly, Rubens admits that he didn't push hard enough for changes early on. "Besides, you know, you can't just arrive in a new team and start beating your fists on the table to impose your will," says the Brazilian. "Now that I'm more accustomed, I can do that."

Despite the challenges, Rubens is confident that things are turning round. In 2006, Rubens has already performed slightly better than Jenson in qualifying, averaging position 7.33 on the grid, ahead of Button on 7.39, despite the Englishman's pole position in Bahrain. Jenson finished ahead in the races, his average finishing position being 5.29 to Rubens' 7.80.

"In my opinion next year will be better," added Barrichello. "We've yet to understand why sometimes we are in good shape and other times bad. If you don't understand that you don't know how and where to improve."

There are huge changes at each of the championship contenders in 2007 - Ferrari are losing Ross Brawn, engine guru Paulo Martinelli and, of course, Michael Schumacher but gain Kimi Raikkonen from McLaren, while Renault lose champion Fernando Alonso to McLaren, replaced with rookie Heikki Kovalainen. McLaren have yet to decide who will drive alongside Alonso, with rookie Lewis Hamilton being a contender. Rivals BMW-Sauber and Toyota are the only significant teams with a degree of continuity.

With complete stability at Honda Racing F1 through 2006 and 2007, and a risky strategy of introducing a new design engine for 2007 late this year, the chances are probably better than ever of achieving championship success. With only 138 days until the first race of 2007, there' snot much longer to wait!

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