Rubens Barrichello hopes Formula One's return to Europe in San Marino this weekend will see him back at the front after a dismal start to life with Brackley's Honda team.

The Brazilian has struggled to adapt to his new team after leaving Ferrari at the end of last season, and a fortunate seventh in Australian brought his first points of 2006.

But Barrichello is optimistic of better at Imola this weekend, close to his former Ferrari home at Maranello. He said: "Our difficulties during the last race in Australia have made us work even harder in testing over the last couple of weeks and there is a good feeling that we have made some solid progress.

"The whole team feels positive about this weekend and I share those feelings so we are hoping for a competitive race."

Team-mate Jenson Button has scored nine points more than Barrichello, despite retiring at Albert Park last time out. But his season so far is still tinged with disappointment as he chases an elusive first grand prix win. He has a strong record at Imola and hopes he can once more be a thorn in the side of world champions Renault.

"It's a track where I have great memories," he said. "In 2004 I qualified in pole position here which was my first pole in Formula One and finished the race in second place.

"It's good to be back in Europe following the first three races where we were able to achieve a podium position and some points.

"Obviously we were extremely disappointed with our performance in Australia, however we have made good progress in testing and I am confident we will be competitive in Imola.

"Hopefully it should be a good weekend for us."

Formula One's return to Europe after races in Bahrain, Malaysia and Australia will see updated cars for most teams. Honda's sporting director Gil de Ferran expects a shake-up at the front of the grid and hopes an improved car from his team could be the key to a podium return.

"Imola represents the start of the European season and the challenge of four races in just one month," the former Indianapolis 500 winner said.

"Traditionally this is the weekend when many teams introduce upgrades to their cars, which can reshuffle the order.

"We have not stood still since Australia and have evaluated many potential improvements to both the performance and reliability of the car.

"Our team has traditionally gone very well in Imola, so it all looks good for us to get our championship challenge back on track."