Rubens Barrichello nears unique milestone
When Formula One returns on August 29th, an amazing landmark will be achieved.
Rubens Barrichello will compete in his 300th grand prix at Spa-Francorchamps, Belgium, and the 38-year-old Brazilian is still going strong. He overtook Riccardo Patrese’s record of 257 in Turkey 2008, and shows no sign of stopping yet.
His Formula One career began in 1993 when he drove for BBC’s Formula One pundit Eddie Jordan’s team, but he will ever be remembered for playing second fiddle at Ferrari to the seven-time world champion Michael Schumacher. Currently driving for Williams, Barrichello has won 11 grands prix, with his maiden win coming at the 2000 German Grand Prix. He may not be challenging for race wins now, but he still has the appetite for success.
His most recent success came on TopGear, the television motor-show on BBC2. As the “Star in the reasonably-priced car,” he set the fastest time, and he is the only person who can claim that they went faster than the Stig, who is the show’s test driver with a mysterious identity.
Last year he drove for Brawn-GP, and unfortunately for him he was the second driver once again in the team, this time having to let Jenson Button take all the glory. He looks to be happy at Williams, and has turned in some good recent performances, finishing fourth in the European Grand Prix and fifth in the British Grand Prix.
In the early days of the 60-year history of the Formula One world championship, finishing a grand prix was the main aim and making sure you weren’t killed. Thankfully in the modern era the safety is excellent and what Barrichello will achieve in Belgium is a testament to his eagerness and enthusiasm for racing.
Not even the great names in Formula One past and present have reached 200 races. Possibly the greatest driver, Ayrton Senna, had his time tragically cut short when he was on 162. Five-time world champion Juan Manuel Fangio managed 51, while Jim Clark hit 72. Sir Jackie Stewart, a three-time champion, only managed 100, and Jack Brabham finished on 126. Even Schumacher on 262 cannot match Barrichello.
He is a kind character, but when things go against him, he can get quite rattled, like almost being forced into a pitwall at high speed when attempting to overtake another driver. Unluckily for Barrichello, the other driver turned out to be Schumacher, the most controversial driver in the history of the sport.
“I have great respect for his [seven] championships, but I have no great desire to have him as a friend,” he was quoted as saying about the incident at this year’s Hungarian Grand Prix.
Last season at the German Grand Prix, he was also very unhappy with his team and had strong words to say as he blamed them for costing him the race victory. “I'm terribly upset with the way things have gone today because it was a very good show of how to lose a race. I did everything I had to. I had to go into the first corner first, and that's what I did. Then they made me lose the race basically. If we keep going like this, then we will end up losing both championships, which would be terrible,” he said to the press after the race.
What followed was probably one of the funniest post-race interviews to emerge in recent years in Formula One. While you understood his frustrations, you had to laugh a bit as well.
“To be very honest with you, I wish I could just get on a plane and go home now. I don't want to talk to anybody in the team because it would just be a load of ‘blah, blah, blah,’ and I don't want to hear that. I am just terribly upset.”
To celebrate his 300th grand prix, Barrichello’s two sons, Fernando and Eduardo, have been modelling commemorative t-shirts on his Twitter @rubarrichello.
Barrichello looks certain to be staying in Formula One for a few more years as he is set to sign a new deal with Williams, and as he continues to race, the number of grands prix he competes in goes up.
“Rubinho” still has the drive for success.
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