Rogue Profile of Rubens Barrichello

“As far as the penalty for this morning is concerned, all I can say is that it was impossible for me to see the red light from where I was. I didn’t make a final run as I knew it would change nothing in terms of grid position,” he explained after qualifying. “I think we had come up with a well set-up car, however I had a gear selection problem, although all in all, I don’t think it would have changed much. It certainly won’t be easy starting from the fourth row, but it will be a long hard race so I am confident all the same.”

“I just made a sign that told him to go to hell! Considering that he is the one that talks so much in the briefings and everything – bla, bla, bla – it’s odd that he goes and holds me up for three-quarters of a lap. When he let Ralf by, in a nice way, he could have let me by at the same place but he came back in and stayed there for another five or six corners. It was just silly, that’s all. But he’s getting old,” seethed Barrichello as he slated Irvine after the race.

“At one point, I spotted an opportunity to pass Raikkonen,” Barrichello explained. “I went from the outside to the inside and as he braked, he closed the door on me. There was nothing I could do and I ran into him. I have to thank the team for building a really strong car, as after the accident, I was able to continue and the car was still very quick, even if it had a bit of oversteer. It’s a race to forget, because as I said earlier, I had a winning car.”

“I went off the track in the morning, losing precious time in terms of preparing the car for qualifying. This afternoon, I therefore tried to make up for lost time. Obviously the car could not be great in these circumstances, but all in all, I am happy with the result,” Rubens remarked.

“Everything worked fine and the Bridgestone tyres were fantastic. I spun, when I touched a kerb after pushing a bit too hard on the intermediates which were quite worn at the rear,” explained Barrichello. “I enjoyed my fight with Juan Pablo. It was a fair one. I lost some speed going into Club corner, but I did not expect him to move on me there. I tried to make a move on him at the exit to the corner, which did not work, but after a few more laps I managed to overtake him again.”

“I had prepared a similar shirt, but unfortunately I never got the chance to wear it,” said Michael with a smile. “Germany played very well in the final and we can be proud. But it was Brazil’s day and they definitely deserved the win.”

Up until his teammate, Michael Schumacher "dragged and dropped" Barrichello’s
car set-up before Saturday’s qualifying session Barrichello had been the dominant
force at the 2003 Australian Grand Prix. In that session Barrichello had the legs
on Schumacher but he claimed to be distracted on his hot lap and was second to
the German.

A last minute change to intermediate tyres as the cars formed up on the pre
gird hinted of Barrichello’s urgency to regain the upper hand.

Disaster struck the start of the race; the Brazilian’s car lurched from it’s
second-position grid slot before the five red lights had extinguished (to start
the race) and hard braking did not prevent the Brazilian cutting the timing beam.

There was no escaping the fact, Barrichello would surely be penalised for a
jump start weather the car was at fault or not. Race Steward’s logic can sometimes
be hard to dissect but in this instance only a rusty knife was needed. Notice
of Barrichello’s drive-through penalty was served on lap six but there was worse
to come for the luckless Brazilian.

After a dream start to the Grand Prix, weekend Rubens Barrichello went to pieces
after a poor lap in final qualifying. The result? Loosing the upper hand to his
teammate, Michael Schumacher, quashing rumours that he may have had the mental
strength to beat his team mate since team the ban on team orders.

The race was started on a drying track and both Ferrari’s were running intermediate
tyres. By lap five the Ferrari’s were struggling and needed to pit for dry weather
tyres. Barrichello knew he would have to serve a penalty after he had jumped the
start and knew his race was going down the toilet.

The penalty was announced on lap six but Barrichello would not serve the penalty.
On the same lap he fell victim to his over heating front tyres and coming into
the 125mph turn five, lost the front end of his F2002.

The front of the car snapped away and Barrichello became a crash test dummy
as the car skipped over the gravel. The rear of the car spun round and impacted
in the tyre barrier, ripping the rear wing off. The F2002 did not hit the tyres
straight on and the car was spun by the collision, smashing the front part of
the car before finally coming to a rest. Barrichello was quickly making a habit
of almost beating Schumacher, it would be one he would have to break.

"A disappointing day, but it’s not a case of Australia being unlucky
for me. It was just one of those things. There is no need to panic about this
result. We just have to dig in and concentrate on Malaysia. The F2002 is still
a very good car, as could be seen by Michael’s lap times, even when he had lost
some bodywork. As for my start, we will have to investigate what happened, as
I was holding the car on the brake as much as I could, but it just wanted to start
early today," Rubens said. "We felt intermediate tyres were the
best choice, but the track dried very quickly. Just before the accident, we were
talking on the radio about my penalty. I went into Turn 5 too fast, had understeer
and could not hold it. The car was going well, but the front tyres were already
in trouble, because the track dried quicker than expected and I was still having
to push hard. We must now put this race behind us, look to the next one and get
used to the new rules."

Barrichello had been the dominant force at the 2003 Australian Grand Prix until
final qualifying when Kimi Raikkonen’s slowed his progress after the Finn ‘s left-rear
tyre had punctured on his in-lap following an off track moment on his hot-lap.
Barrichello was more than disappointed as up until Ferrari put his set-up on to
Schumacher’s car he had the beating of the German. Barrichello was rattled and
he lashed out in his customary fashion.

"Today’s qualifying was the first time this weekend I have had a problem.
I was on a good lap when I saw the oil/debris flags after Turn 6. With the new
rules, you are supposed to be alone on the track, so I was not sure what to do
and I lost concentration," Rubens explained. "Kimi’s car was
on the correct side of the track but there were bits of car on the road. I am
not complaining, but I could have done a better time. Maybe we need to look at
the rules concerning this type of situation. From a driving point of view I think
this new qualifying is less exciting for the drivers because you cannot push as
hard as in the past, because of the increased fuel levels which give you a lot
of oversteer or understeer. But I think the new system might be more exciting
for the spectators."

At the Malaysian Grand Prix, Ferrari’s much dogged second driver, Rubens Barrichello
announced that he would be using a new type of HANS device.

Barrichello had blamed the safety system for his crash at the previous Grand Prix,
explaining that the pain of device for it digging into his collar caused him to
lose concentration.

The Brazilian said, "I lost the air from my airbag below the HANS device
so the carbon fibre was sitting on my collarbone. It was just really hurting with
the bumps and kerbs. I didn’t know if I could finish with that thing fitted on
my neck."

"There is a new type of HANS for me here, something a little bit more
wide so it doesn’t really sit on top of the collarbone. We made some changes to
the airbag as well."

The Brazilian was in a feisty move and he attempted to pass his teammate’s F2003 GA around the outside of the first turn. Just when it looked as if the manoeuvre would stick, Schumacher held his line into the second turn, closing the door on the Brazilian, the two cars touched and Barrichello slid over the gavel trap.

Barrichello lost the nose of his car and had to pit directly. Glock retired after the team realized the extent of the damage.