Rubens Barrichello is hopeful the ban on off-throttle diffusers will help his Williams team close the gap to the front this weekend. But the Brazilian believes the picture on top will not change much, even if it affects some teams more than others.
"I think the new rules won't change much the top 10," said Barrichello on Thursday at Silverstone. "They might lose something but it might not change the places very much, but it might help other teams such as Williams to come a bit closer. How much I don't know. We have new stuff on car, new front wings and different things that should help us.
"I am hoping for a competitive weekend. We'll see how the weather is playing. I would love to get in Q3 and finish in the top eight. That is the real target for the weekend."
The Williams driver also hailed his team's agreement to use Renault engines from next year, as he reckons it is a good step forward in the outfit's ambitions to return to the top.
"I was thrilled and glad that Williams is working very hard to get back to the top. This is one of the changes," he added. "I've been at the factory a couple of times to talk to people and the attitude is very good and I did say a couple of months ago that I needed Williams to get its act together and do things. I am very proud of that.
"It is going in the right direction as far as next year is concerned."