Rubens Barrichello

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Rubens Barrichello bigraphy, stories - Brazilian racing driver

Rubens Barrichello : biography

23 May 1972 –

Rubens Gonçalves "Rubinho" Barrichello ( , born 23 May 1972 in São Paulo) is a racing driver from Brazil, best known for competing in Formula One between and . After losing his seat at the Williams F1 team, Barrichello moved to the IndyCar Series in 2012 with KV Racing Technology. After only one year and being unable to find a ride for the 2013 season, Barrichello moved back to Brazil to participate in the Brazilian Stock Car V8 Series.

Barrichello has scored the tenth highest points total in Formula One history. Barrichello drove for Ferrari from to , as Michael Schumacher’s teammate, enjoying considerable success including finishing as championship runner-up in and . Schumacher’s retirement at the end of made Barrichello the most experienced driver on the grid, and at the 2008 Turkish Grand Prix he became the most experienced driver in F1 history. He became the first driver to reach 300 Grand Prix entries and 300 starts, doing so in 2010. He was also appointed chairman of the Grand Prix Drivers’ Association in 2010, but after losing his seat in Formula One, he was replaced by Pedro de la Rosa. In 2013 he started covering F1 race weekends for Brazil’s TV Globo, interviewing drivers and team members on the grid and commenting during qualifying and race coverages.

Early life

Both his father and paternal grandfather are also named Rubens,http://www.teleresponde.com.br/rubens.htm Interview: Rubens Barrichello (grandfather) and Barrichello shares his father’s birthday: 23 May. Therefore, Rubens Barrichello was known as Rubinho (Portuguese for "little Rubens"), which has become his nickname.

Barrichello won five karting titles in Brazil before going to Europe to race in the Formula Vauxhall Lotus series in 1990. In his first year, he won the championship, a feat he replicated the following year in the British Formula 3 Championship, beating David Coulthard. He very nearly joined Formula One, the highest category of single seater racing, at just 19 years of age. Instead he competed in Formula 3000 in 1992. He finished third in the championship, and joined the Jordan Formula One team for the 1993 Formula One season. During this time, and also early in his Formula One career, Barrichello lived in Cambridge, Cambridgeshire, UK.

As a young, aspiring driver, Barrichello looked up to the late Ayrton Senna, and when he joined Formula One, Senna in return considered him his protégé.

Racing record

Career summary

Season Series Team Races Wins Poles F/Laps Podiums Points Position
1989 Brazilian Formula Ford 1600 Arisco ? ? ? ? ? ? 3rd
1990 Formula Three Sudamericana Guido Forti Dallara 3 1 1 ? 1 12 8th
Formula Opel Lotus Euroseries Draco Racing 11 6 7 7 8 157 1st
Formula Vauxhall Lotus 4 0 1 0 2 34 11th
Formula Opel Lotus Nations Cup Brazil 1 1 1 1 1 N/A 2nd
1991 British Formula Three West Surrey Racing 16 4 9 7 8 74 1st
Macau Grand Prix 1 0 0 0 0 N/A 5th
Masters of Formula Three 1 0 1 1 0 N/A 6th
F3 Fuji Cup 1 0 0 0 0 N/A NC
1992 International Formula 3000 Il Barone Rampante 10 0 0 2 4 27 3rd
Macau Grand Prix Edenbridge/Theodore Racing 1 0 0 0 0 N/A 7th
1993 Formula One Sasol Jordan 16 0 0 0 0 2 18th
Formula One Indoor Trophy 3 3 3 3 3 12 1st
1994 Formula One Sasol Jordan Hart 16 0 1 0 1 19 6th
1995 Formula One Total Jordan Peugeot 17 0 0 0 1 11 11th
1996 Formula One Benson & Hedges Total Jordan Peugeot 16 0 0 0 0 14 8th
1997 Formula One HSBC Malaysia Stewart Ford 17 0 0 0 1 6 13th
1998 Formula One HSBC Stewart Ford 16 0 0 0 0 4 12th
1999 Formula One HSBC Stewart Ford 16 0 1 0 3 21 7th
2000 Formula One Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro 17 1 1 3 9 62 4th
2001 Formula One Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro 17 0 0 0 10 56 3rd
2002 Formula One Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro 17 4 3 5 10 77 2nd
2003 Formula One Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro 16 2 3 3 8 65 4th
2004 Formula One Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro 18 2 4 4 14 114 2nd
2005 Formula One Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro 19 0 0 0 4 38 8th
2006 Formula One Lucky Strike Honda Racing F1 Team 18 0 0 0 0 30 7th
2007 Formula One Honda Racing F1 Team 17 0 0 0 0 0 20th
2008 Formula One Honda Racing F1 Team 18 0 0 0 1 11 14th
2009 Formula One Brawn GP F1 Team 17 2 1 2 6 77 3rd
2010 Formula One AT&T Williams 19 0 0 0 0 47 10th
2011 Formula One AT&T Williams 19 0 0 0 0 4 17th
2012 IndyCar KV Racing Technology 15 0 0 0 0 289 12th
Stock Car Brasil Medley Full Time 3 0 0 0 0 0† NC†
2013 Stock Car Brasil Full Time Sports 6 0 0 0 1 48* 9th*