• Chinese Grand Prix

Barrichello aiming for top six

Rubens Barrichello has had a difficult start to the 2011 season © Sutton Images

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• Race:
• Chinese Grand Prix

• Drivers:
• Rubens Barrichello
• |
• Pastor Maldonado

• Teams:
• Williams

Rubens Barrichello has said that he hopes Williams' updates for the Chinese Grand Prix will help propel him in to the top six.

Williams have endured a frustrating start to the season so far, and are yet to finish a race, while they have also looked less competitive than expected following an impressive showing in winter testing. Barrichello admitted it has been a difficult opening to 2011, but was hoping that a major upgrade would move him much closer to the front of the grid.

"It hasn't been the dream start that we all wanted and it's been hard not to be disappointed," Barrichello said. "But everyone's working flat-out to turn the situation around and we're hoping for a much brighter weekend here than we had in Malaysia. [The aim is] to have a clean weekend without any problems. I also think we can be competitive because we have some new parts to try here. If we can get them to work as we hope, and be reliable, I think a top six position in qualifying is possible. Even if we have to revert to the old layout, we'll be looking at top 12 because the FW33 is a good car."

Barrichello will be the only one of the two Williams drivers to have the updated car, with Pastor Maldonado running the same specification as in Malaysia. Despite this, Maldonado still believed he would also be able to challenge for a top ten finish on Sunday.

"[The target is] to finish in the points," Maldonado said. "Our race pace is better than our qualifying pace, although we're hoping to improve our qualifying pace here with a few set-up changes. The new front wing in Malaysia made a small difference; everything is a step in the right direction. There hasn't been enough time to get two lots of the update to China, but if it works out as we hope, it will be on my car at the next race in Turkey."

© ESPN Sports Media Ltd.