Having completed a couple of laps of this brand new circuit on foot this morning, Rubens Barrichello met with the local and international media to give them his first impressions. 'The surface is very smooth, in that there seem to be very few bumps, but at the same time the asphalt is very grippy and abrasive and that will make tyre choice very important as everyone is effectively starting from zero here and it looks as though track temperatures could be very high,' began the Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro driver. 'Before coming here, I heard all the stories that the track would be very dirty because of the sand, but first impressions are that it is actually cleaner at this stage than at the first two races of the season.'

The fact that free practice prior to making a tyre choice is now restricted to just the two hours on Friday will make life more complicated for everyone. 'I think this is the first circuit where the teams who are allowed to run a third car in these sessions will have an advantage,' reckoned the Brazilian. 'As for my general impression of the track, I think it will be quite straightforward to drive, but a bit more tricky to set up the car. There are a couple of corners that remind me of the Valencia circuit and a challenging series of 'Esses' which are similar to part of Silverstone. I think the facilities here are better than anything we have seen before and they are amazing.'