Rubens Barrichello reveals Ferrari threatened to end his career in 2002 Austrian GP – Formula 1 news
Former F1 driver Rubens Barrichello has revealed that Ferrari threatened to end his racing career during the 2002 Austrian Grand Prix.
The Brazilian driver was ahead of his teammate, Michael Schumacher in Austrian GP ten years ago and was leading the race. However, he received orders from the team on the radio which intended him to let the seven-time world champion overtake.
Even though, he expressed that it was very hard for him to allow the German driver to pass after eight fighting laps. Nevertheless, he said that he was compelled to end up behind his teammate as he received such a threat from the Scarlet team which could have put a full stop on his F1 career.
“It was eight laps of war,” he is quoted by Brazil’s Globo. “It’s very rare that I lose my temper, but I was screaming on the radio. I kept going right to the end, saying I would not let him pass. That’s when they said something about something much broader. It was not about the contract. I cannot tell you what they said, but it was a form of threat that made me think about re-thinking my life, because the great joy for me was driving.”
Barrichello raced with the Italian team from 2000 to 2005 and finished as runner-up in the drivers’ championship of 2002 and 2004 behind his teammate, Schumacher.
In 2010, he became the first ever driver who took part in 300 Grands Prix. Additionally, in the same year he was also appointed as the chairman of Grand Prix Drivers’ Association.
In 2011, he spent his last season in F1 with Williams and he came 17th in the drivers’ championship with 4 points. Afterwards, he was replaced by the Spaniard, Pedro de la Rosa.
Besides, after leaving his race seat in the British team, he went to take part in 2012 IndyCar Series with KV Racing Technology.
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