Rubens Barrichello confirms his switch to IndyCar for the 2012 season – Formula 1 news
Rubens Barrichello has confirmed his participation in the IndyCar series in the 2012 season.
Barrichello, a veteran of 19 seasons in Formula 1, was desperate to find a race seat in the sport for the 2012 season but his dismal performance in the 2011 season and a career stretched longer than its due date caused the Brazilian to lose out on the race
seat.
Barrichello publicly expressed his desire to start the 20th season of his career in the sport and said that he will look to gather sponsors if needed to confirm him a race seat in the 2012 season. The situation came down to him being retained by his former
team Williams for another season but a Bruno Senna was picked over him.
Senna maintained that the decision taken by Williams was purely financial and did not regard skills. Senna and Williams did not comment on the issue. The decision though has all but ended the record-breaking 19-year stretch of an illustrious career of the
Brazilian.
Following the loss of a race seat Barrichello has looked towards the American version of the sport, the IndyCar series. Barrichello earlier did a test run for KV Racing Technology. The team said that they were very impressed with the Brazilian’s control
and pace of the car, while Barrichello also mentioned that he enjoyed his run with the team.
Although Barrichello did not confirm his switch at that point leaving the door open for the bleak hope of getting a race seat in Formula 1, but now that the season is about to start in two week’s time the veteran has finally decided to give IndyCar series
a go.
“I'm over the moon,” he told reporters in a conference call this afternoon. “I felt I wanted to do this straight away.”
“When you love what you do, you want to search for new things,” he continued. “You have an open mind. With all my experience I will start as a rookie, but I think I will get better as the year progresses. I can do different things but I know I can drive
well and to be able to become an IndyCar driver at almost age 40 and still be so competitive and physically well. It I still have a lot of speed in myself. I have not reached the peak of my performance yet.”
The IndyCar season begins on March 25, 2012 at St Petersburg, Florida. The season begins a week after the F1 season begins in Melbourne, Australia.
Tags: