Red Bull driver Mark Webber says Rubens Barrichello deserves a proper send-off – Formula 1 news
Mark Webber said that Rubens Barrichello should be given a great send-off if the Brazilian Grand Prix is to be his last in the sport.
Webber has raced against the Brazilian for ten seasons and wanted to pay his tribute, as he described the veteran’s career as an amazing one.
“One of the great heroes of Brazilian motorsport is Rubens Barrichello,” Webber wrote in his BBC column. “He holds the record for competing in more Grands Prix than any driver in history, and he has done so much for our sport on and off the track.”
“Rubens is always willing to stop and give a signature or a photo to fans. He has that family feeling about him, although he still has plenty of mongrel in him in the car. He has had an amazing career,” added the Aussie.
Webber also said that Barrichello has sort of a family persona to him, and he is never too busy to give autographs or stop for pictures for the fans. He said it will be a pity if this is to be his last race and the fans, friends and fellow competitors in
the sport are not able to give him the send off he deserves.
Barrichello will go into the Brazilian Grand Prix with his career still in a sort of limbo, as he has publicly expressed his desire to keep his career alive but so far has not been able to secure a race seat for the 2012 season. If he is able to secure a
seat, it will mark the 20th season for him in the sport.
At 39, Barrichello is definitely not at the age where people can say that he is too old to drive, as his countryman Felipe Massa also expressed. Although Barrichello has had one of the worst seasons of his career as he has so far been able to secure four
points out of a total five in his Williams in the ongoing 2011 Formula 1 season.
On top of that, the race seat situation for many teams is that they want the drivers to pay for them through sponsors, which makes for a very tight situation to earn a race seat with a poor current season performance to show for it.
This situation gives more reason to the veteran to go out in front of his home crowd in Brazil and give the best performance he can so that if a team is interested in giving him a seat, a good showing will not hinder his chances. If the race is to be his
last it will be still be a good end to an amazing career.
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