Rubens wants slick tyres back - 1st July 19:47pm GMT

On a partly cloudy afternoon at the circuit which hosts this Sunday's French Grand Prix, Rubens Barrichello met the press at the Ferrari media motorhome. With Ralf Schumacher missing this race because of his back injury following his accident at Indianapolis, safety on F1 has come to the forefront of discussions again. Barrichello's attitude was that safety work should continue but that there should not be any sudden reaction. 'The cars are much safer today than in the past, but I do agree that we need to reduce speeds,' he said. 'This has always been a talking point. But I have to say I love driving these cars. I don't think we should reduce their performance by too much. 800 horsepower would be a sensible limit and we don't have to go as low as 600. Apart from that, I think we could play with the aerodynamics and go back to slick tyres. In fact, I think most of the drivers would agree with that.'

Last week, it was announced that the proposed changes to the qualifying format, due to be introduced at Silverstone, have been scrapped. The Brazilian is not bothered. 'Making changes quickly is a dangerous idea,' he reckoned. You should not rush things through and you cannot change the world in five minutes. I think a sensible solution would be to review the situation and make any changes for the start of the 2005 season.'

As for this coming race, the Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro driver was as optimistic as ever: 'I like this track and the area. I usually go well here, so hopefully I can have a good weekend.'