Drivers attend Ferrari press conference - 7th July 19:07pm GMT

The Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro drivers had been in England for a day before appearing at the Silverstone circuit this afternoon. Both he and Michael had been to the nearby Rockingham circuit to drive some special cars used by Shell for an Economy Run. “Shell does some fantastic things with its technology,” said Rubens as he faced the press in the Ferrari Media motorhome. “But I have to admit I got frustrated with the lack of speed!” Having left London that morning, Barrichello was asked for his comments on the events in the capital city that morning. “When I am in Europe, I often see TV reports about violence in Brazil, but this refers to people stealing your watch in the street, not bombings like this,” he began. “So, all I can feel is a great disappointment that these things happen. Terrorism is absurd and all we can do as racing drivers is put on a good show this weekend and try and take people’s minds off what happened.”

Back to more familiar territory as the Ferrari man was asked to assess the effect of completing an entire race on one set of tyres, now that half a season has been completed under this rule. “Well, it is definitely not safer,” he maintained. “But it does produce more overtaking, especially towards the end of the race when, either through tyre problems or simply the differences between the two makes of tyre, you get more passing moves.”

It is well known that Silverstone is one of Barrichello’s favourite tracks and he agreed he was looking forward to this race. “Silverstone has always been good to me, whether in the wet or dry, so I am sure I can have a good weekend. Even if most of the practice is in the wet and then qualifying is dry, I will feel confident to push hard over the single lap, because I know the track so well I could almost drive it with my eyes closed,” he joked.

As Rubens left the meeting he was replaced by team-mate Michael Schumacher, who was also immediately asked about incidents in London, but admitted he had not been able to see any relevant news bulletins. However, when asked if he felt security could be a problem for the British Grand Prix, he replied: “I think that in these situations it is often safer to be close to the incident and I am sure there will be increased and adequate security in place here at Silverstone.”

Back to the racing and with half of the season gone, the reigning world champion was asked if had been surprised at how tough this year’s races had been. “Not really, because we understood the situation when we started testing in the winter,” commented Michael. “We face a really big challenge and some moments have been very enjoyable while others were less so.” Like his team-mate, Schumacher was asked to comment on the one tyre per race rule. “Honestly, I don’t think it makes that much difference,” reckoned the Ferrari man. “Of course, as racing drivers, we would like to be able to use new tyres all the time.” Earlier, Barrichello had reiterated his love of slick tyres and Michael reminded his audience this is part of the proposed package for 2008. “They want to reduce the balance between aerodynamic downforce and mechanical grip and slick tyres would certainly be a good way to go about doing that.”

And this weekend’s challenge? “You know, our race in Magny-Cours did not turn out as expected,” he said. “We had a very good test there earlier in the season and free practice on Friday and Saturday went well, so we expected to be competitive. But we were not and I think that was mainly down to the circumstances of the circuit. With the improvements we have made recently, I expect to be more competitive at Silverstone.”