Driver Profile: Rubens Barrichello
The Brazilian driver Rubens Barrichello was born on 23 May, 1972. Barrichello was born in Sao Paulo right across the Interlagos track where the Brazilian Grand Prix takes place.
He belongs to a motor racing family and became the South American Carting Champion at the age of 14 before winning 3 more championships later in his career. A year later, he finished ninth in the world championships where he was sponsored by Ayton Senna. In 1989, Rubens joined Formula Ford before he moved to England after graduating from carts.
The Brazilian says he used his father’s driver’s license in the UK as he was not old enough to drive a car in the country. He became the British Formula 3 champion after defeating David Coulthard in 1991 to become the youngest champion - a record that was beaten by Nelson Piquet Jr. in 2004. Rubens nearly joined Formula 1 racing at the age of 19 but instead competed in Formula 3000 that year. He finished at the third spot before beginning his illustrious Formula 1 career.
Rubens Barrichello is one of the most experienced drivers and had one of the most consistent careers in Formula 1 history. The Brazilian also holds the record of 299 race starts which is the highest in the world. The Brazilian will start his 300th race in the upcoming Belgium GP at Spa-Francorchamps. The 38-year-old has scored 11 wins and 68 podiums along with 14 pole positions in his magnanimous career where he has clinched a total of 637 points in his career.
Barrichello joined Jordan in 1993which became his first team in Formula 1 racing. Rubens was able to score only 2 points, securing the 18th place in the drivers’ standings. Barrichello’s best performance with the team during his 4 years with Jordan came in 1994 when the Brazilian scored 19 points to secure the 6th spot. Rubens scored 2 podiums and 1 pole position during this period. Barrichello joined Stewart but left the team in 1999 before joining Ferrari. His best performance with Stewart came in his last year with the team when he scored 3 podiums and a pole position to secure the 7th place with 21 points.
His move to Ferrari was very promising for him as Ferrari was one of the front-running teams in that time. Many critics believe that Barrichello would have done better without Ferrari, as he was just a “sidekick” for Michael Schumacher from 2000 till 2005. Statistically, this was the best time for the Brazilian as he scored 9 out of his 11 wins in this time and scored 54 podium positions and 11 pole positions.
Barrichello has also criticized Ferrari for their attitude against him which was why he left the team in 2005 and joined Honda in 2006. His best seasons in F 1 racing came in 2002 and 2004 when he secured the 2nd position in the drivers’ standings with 77 and 114 points respectively. Honda was only able to give him 1 podium position and the Brazilian struggled during this time before joining Brawn in 2009.
Once again, he had to ensure his teammates victory for the Championship. He finished at the third spot in the Championship when he joined Williams in 2010 and believes he will go for the title with the team. Rubens is currently at the 11th place with 30 points. This season has been quite disappointing for the Brazilian as he was involved in an incident with Michael Schumacher in the Hungarian Grand Prix that caused a lot of controversy against Michael.
Barrichello also survived an accident during a qualifying session in the same year when his friend and mentor Ayton Senna died. Rubens expects good results in the coming two races and believes that his current team has a lot of potential. He hopes to secure a Championship title before his retirement.
Rubens is the 4th highest point scoring driver in the history of Formula 1 racing. The 38-year-old is participating in his 18th consecutive season on the grid with the Williams team at present.
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