Felipe Massa advises countryman Rubens Barrichello to retire after Brazilian GP – Formula 1 news
Ferrari driver Felipe Massa has said that he has advised Rubens Barrichello to retire after the Brazil Grand Prix due this weekend, instead of looking for sponsors to get a seat for the 2012 season.
The veteran driver has no race seat confirmed for 2012, and has been on the lookout for sponsors to help him get a seat for what would mark his 20th season in the sport.
Barrichello has remained open about his search for a seat and though remains optimistic, Massa has advised him to use the final race of the season in Brazil as a proper farewell and retire. The younger Brazilian driver has said that he has not advised his
countryman to retire because of his age, rather out of respect for the outstanding career he has built over the years. Massa feels that Barrichello should not have to go through finding sponsors just to get a race seat.
He said that at the moment there are 12 teams in Formula 1 and four to five of them are asking for money to give a race seat, which is absurd but that is the reality.
“I did give him an advice: to quit,” the Brazilian told TotalRace in an interview. “To me, Barrichello had an incredible career in F1: the driver who competed in most GPs and with many wins under his belt. It is a career most drivers would dream to have.”
“He raced for the best teams in F1. I haven't advised him to quit because I feel he is old or something like that. But today in F1 there are 12 teams, and five or six are asking for money to give a seat,” Massa said. “My opinion, which I told him, is that
I can't see Barrichello searching for sponsors to race after all he had achieved in F1.”
The Williams driver has had a poor 2011 season and he has only been able to score four points for his team so far. Although he is still looking for a race seat, but it remains to be seen if he gets the opportunity to drive for what would be the 20th
season of his career.
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