Rubens Barrichello has acknowledged that retirement from formula one is 'closer than ever'. Behind Michael Schumacher, the 34-year-old Brazilian is the most experienced driver on today's grid, and with nearly 230 Grand Prix is third on the list of most experienced of all time. But Barrichello, who joined Honda this year after six years at Ferrari, admitted to Auto Bild that he is not likely to trouble Riccardo Patrese's all-time record of 256 race starts. That gives him less than two seasons left in F1 "I love this sport," Barrichello said, "but I do not want to break Patrese's record. It will be one of the saddest decisions of my life." Source GMM CAPSIS International
I read the thread title and thought Rubens was having myopia issues. Now if you'd said that JPM or Ide was driving around blind as a bat, ...
Barrichello sacrificed his career for Shumacher. After a difficult apprenticeship at Jordan and Stewart (ex-Jaguar, ex- Red Bull), he signed for Ferrari - the best car in the field, to be #2 to MS, and spent his best years having to let him pass, or follow him to observe the terms of his contract. Now at Honda, he finds the car unreliable, plus all the politics around Button. It's enough to make you quit...
Although I agree to what you said, IMHO you're leaving out an important part of Rubens' career: His 94 Imola accident and the death of his good friend Senna shocked him to the core in a way that it cost him years to recuperate. It wasn't just being #2 behind MS that took some of the life out of his career. Had Imola not played out the way it did, he might have been on the up at that time and never accepted second fiddle to Michael.
I'm a big fan of RB and would like to see him smoke MS just one time in the Honda. I think the above comments are right on the money.
i like RB ....but i dont think he "sacrificed" anything ..... if he felt that he was "sacrificing" his career i'm pretty sure he would have left ferrari earlier. the above statement makes it sound like he was forced to be Michaels team....or that he played second fiddle out of the goodness of his heart. we must remember ....RB chose to do it .... he made alot of money off it ..... and he did get quite a few race wins out of it too. i really like RB though .... and i hope Honda can get their act together and give him a competetive car. but the decision to join ferrari as a number 2 driver was HIS. just my $.02 cheers
I like Rubens but I don't get the whole "second fiddle" to MS. He knew what he was getting into and the facts are, Michael smoked him in terms of speed, while he is a nice guy, there's no doubt RB is no where near as good as MS.
Exactly. Not just at Ferrari, every year they raced in the same series. How can RB being sacrificing anything when he clearly gained by joining Ferrari? IIRC, doesn't he hold the dubious honor of having started the most GPs before a win? There's no way he would have fumbled his way to the top of the podium in a car other than the Ferrari. Keep in mind how dominant a car (and team) it took for him to win, and that he would be racing against said dominant car had he chose not to join Ferrari. He wont win at Honda, or anywhere else. He's a good driver, not great. At least he has his karting.
Spot on IMHO. Its the same in nearly all the teams, but you dont generally hear of No.1 drivers ruining the 2nd guys career. RB had some fantastic races, and quite often, out qualified MS. He was just struck with bad luck, and some other peoples bad judgement.
I think Mika might have had more starts before his first win but i'm not totally sure. I'll look into it. All the argument about MS being faster and always beating RB is besides the point. RB was contractually obligated to move over for MS even when he was faster which happened quite a few times. He never had a fair fight with MS becuase of his contract.
true .... but it was RB's decision to sign that contract. there are many drivers who would not sign that contract. it does suck .... that he was obligated to move over .....but one must remember that ...that was a career choice he made.
Why does this #2 driver "thing" always come up? Everyone pisses and moans about "Ferrari will not let them race!!!! BS! The reality is that the championship pays the BIG bills. MS is the guy that CONSISTENTLY outperforms the "#2". Until the #2 can prove that he can do better, the team will favor the driver who can deliver. This is no conspiracy! All the teams that ***** about team orders are never in a position to need them. Michael did not achieve all his records because a #2 was granting favors! Wake up and move on. Rubins has had plenty of time to reveal any crap with Ferrari. So unless I missed the big announcement, all he has said is that he was not happy with the situation. Funny how countless side-by-side analysis of RB and MSs driving shows where MS is superior I guess Michaels people fudged those numbers too? It was the same with DC and Mika. Mika delivered on a more consistent basis therefore he was #1. DC moved over for the team. RB moved over for the team. Neither one had to do it, but they did. How many times was DC wallowing in midfield while Mika was walking away at the front? Same with RB! This is not rocket science. No one seems to want to admit that MS is truly an oddity of ability, and are so quick to bash. If he teams with Kimi next year and kicks his butt, Im sure that will be some sort of conspiracy too. OR that Alonso was better and Michael knows it and would not let Ferrari sign him, blah, blah blah. I sometimes wonder if this is a Ferrari site. All this being said, I am a HUGE Rubins fan! To fight back from a horrid accident and still accomplish what he has is inspiring. On a given day he could be stunning! He was/is always a classy guy. I will miss him.
Ok, so there was never anytime that RB had to move over for MS? It happened quite a few times if i remember right. It gets mentioned over and over because it exsists. Heck Ferrari invented it. The whole contractual number two bull$hit only exsists there. I don't even remember hearing of such a thing at any other time with any other team and any other drivers. Normally if you had a faster driver the slower driver was still allowed to race his teammate until the last few races in the season when he had to help his teammate win the championship. Only the stopwatch decided who was number one, not a piece of paper. RB was never allowed to race MS. The whole arguement about the team will favor the driver who can deliver and blah blah blah doesn't hold water in this case. RB assured he was be second to MS as soon as he signed that contract. Why would MS or the team want or need such a contract in place if MS was so superior? People like Senna, Mansell, Prost, Stewart, etc never needed that crap, they just went out and kicked tail on the track. Now was MS the faster of the two drivers, yes of course. But to have such a thing as a number two driver by contract only shows how much MS hates having fast teammates. I for one would be embarassed, as MS was on a couple of occasions when my teammate was made to move over for me when he was kicking my butt all race long.
I guess you only saw what you wanted with my response. Re-read please. I would like to see the legendary #2-I-gotta-move-over-and-give-MS-foot-massages contract that Rubins signed. Can you show it to me? Did RB talk of any such thing? Read "Winning" by Russell Hotten and become educated. Ferrari and Mac were not the first.
Oh, so you know for a fact there was no such contract? There are a lot of people that would disagree with you. When did Mac ever have a contractual number 2 driver ?
Team orders have always existed, and historically Ferrari has made it part of its in-house tradition. They favour one driver and expect the other to 'help' him. It was already true in the time of Fangio (team mates Collins, Musso) in the 50s, it followed in the 60s with Surtees (team mate Bandini), then Schekter (team mate Villeneuve), Lauda (team mate Reggazoni), etc.... They expect one driver to emerge after a few GPs, and then the other one to follow him, and maybe pick up a win or be allowed to challenge the leader if the title is in the bag. Sometimes the order is already established before the season starts in view of the experience/speed of one driver. They rarely treat drivers equally, and if they do it's only to see when one will emerge as number one. Example, the famous tiff Villeneuve v. Pironi at Imola. Now, MS came at Ferrari as #1, and Irvine, Barichello and Massa were there to help him, not to challenge him. The disgracefull situation in Austria where Barichello had won the race but had to let MS pass is in everyone's mind. Ron Dennis, at times, has applied some 'team tactics' between DC and Hakkinen too. Remember when DC was leading in Australia and let Mika go by before the finish, telling us after that it was a 'gentlemen's agreement'! In general Williams and McLaren don't have team orders. For an entire season, Frank Williams watched the intense fight between Piquet and Mansell without saying anything. Frank Williams has lost championship by letting his drivers fight among themselves. Ron Dennis let newcomer Prost challenge the established Lauda up to the wire; Lauda won the championship by one point! And Dennis let Prost and Senna rip each other apart! Now, the whole point about Schumacher and what devalues his record is that he has constantly benefited from team orders. OK, he is good, but not all his wins are his. Added to that some unsporting tactics that can suffer close scrutiny (permanent swerwing on the straights, boxing other cars against the wall at the start, "parking" his car at Monaco, plus many others), no wonder people think he is only half good as he pretend to be. The man is good, there is no doubt about that, but most people can't understand why he is so pig-headed.
^ Is it Schumi's fault though that the teams he has been on have catered to team orders? He is logically going to go where he has the greatest chance of success. My $.02 is that the team bosses are at least 50% responsible for his behavior. I mean honestly, if Ferrari came to you and said "we're going to build a team around you, at the most mystique-rich manufacturer in the automotive world where you'll stand to become a billionaire," would you say no? The bottom line is that team orders are the most effective means of securing a WCC and a WDC. I don't agree with them, but I acknowledge that without question.
While i wouldn't say it's his fault he isn't exactly just the benefitciary that had nothing to do with it in the first place. It aways seemed that he had some say as to who his teammate would be. He has, shall we say used it to his full advantage. Other than Piquet, who was on the downslide, he never has had a quick teammate. Even with Benneton. His situation was ALWAYS to his benefit. He seems to have made sure of this. While other drivers sometimes have had to fight with thier own teammates MS never has and wants it that way. Anyway back to the original topic, I heard during the broadcast of the German GP that Rubens has denied any retirement rumors.
Yes, the biggest disgrace is the current team orders at Renault. Fischella is being prevented from racing and over taking Alonso. This is a shame and shows that Alonso and Renault are not worthy champions. It will always reflect on Alonso that he won his first world championship thanks to team orders, subject interpretation of the rules by the FIA and unethical practices of Renault and Michelin. Barrichello is a great champion racer. F1 is a team sport and when a team wins a constructors championship both the drivers are part of that team. Barrichello has won the world championship 5 times. That is a great achievement for a great racer. He will always be supported by true Ferrari fans for his dedication and hard work.
