At 36 years-old Honda’s Rubens Barrichello could have been forgiven for thinking his podium days were over. But on Sunday at Silverstone that is exactly where he found himself after a stunning drive to third in the British Grand Prix.
Starting 16th on the grid, the Brazilian, who last took a podium at the 2005 United States Grand Prix, hadn’t held much hope of a strong result. But a clever strategy switch saw him take on extreme wet-weather tyres as the rain worsened at mid distance and whilst his competitors struggled on their standard wets, Barrichello took advantage. Had it not been for a refuelling rig problem at his second stop, he may even have taken second place.
"It's a great feeling to be back on the podium today after such an exciting race where the weather conditions really helped us to get the best out of the car,” said Barrichello. “The most important decision of the race for us was switching to the extreme wet tyre when the heavy rain started to fall at half distance.
“I had a real moment at Club, going off at high speed and almost hitting the wall, and that made me realise that we needed to make a quick decision. After fitting the extreme wets, I was able to overtake the cars in front easily which was a great feeling. Making such a crucial decision at a key time comes from experience and from the team having the confidence in me to make the call.”
The Honda Racing F1 Team picked up two more World Championship points when Rubens Barrichello finished seventh in a dramatic Canadian Grand Prix. Rubens survived an incident-filled race in Montreal to finish seventh. Barrichello drove a tenacious race from start-to-finish.
“I’m pleased with the two points today,” said Rubens, “particularly as we thought our chances of a points finish were slim when we started the weekend. It was a very tough race and I have not been feeling well since yesterday due to a cold, which made it an even tougher physical challenge. “Yesterday I didn’t know if I was going to be well enough to race, so all things considered we did a good job today and I'm pleased to keep up the points-scoring momentum from Monaco."
Coming away from Canada, Team Principal Ross Brawn said: “We always knew this was going to be a tough race for us but we made the best of the opportunities and came away with more points. That is the approach we need to maintain. We are heading to Barcelona next week ahead of the French Grand Prix (22 June) in Magny-Cours, where the higher downforce characteristics of this track and potentially high temperatures will suit our car better.”
Robert Kubica achieved his first Formula One victory on the Montreal circuit. Kubica didn’t put a foot wrong as he led home team mate Nick Heidfeld to record his, Poland’s and BMW Sauber’s maiden win.
Rubens Barrichello set fast time in Tuesday's testing besting the likes of Felippe Masa, Lewis Hamilton and Fernando Alonso. However, Alonso was back on top on Wednesday and Barrichello was not in the top five. Still is it possible Honda might actually be competitive this weekend? It sure would be a welcoming sight.
Honda’s Rubens Barrichello led the way in Barcelona on Tuesday, as testing continued at the Circuit de Catalunya. Running Bridgestone’s experimental slick tyres, Barrichello was close to a second faster than Force India’s Giancarlo Fisichella, also on slicks. The Brazilian covered 79 laps during the course of the day, as he focused on evaluating development parts for the RA108.
“I tested the new 2009 slick tyres here today (Tuesday) - which was the reason for my fastest lap - but we were also much quicker on the 2008 grooved rubber too,” he explained. “The best lap we did here in February was a 1min 22.3s and now we are at 1min 20.7s, so we're really moving forward.”
Renault’s Fernando Alonso topped the timesheets as this week’s multi-team test at Barcelona’s Circuit de Catalunya continued on Wednesday. Alonso’s best, a 1m 18.483s lap, was set on Bridgestone’s 2009 slick tyres and put the Spaniard almost a second ahead of former sparring partner Michael Schumacher, who returned to the cockpit for Ferrari.
“The day has been good and I was happy with the developments to the car,” Alonso said. “But we still need to keep improving because it seems that our competitors have also improved and so it is still difficult to say how we really compare with them. We have to wait until next week to get a full picture of where we stand. It was fun to try the slick tyres, which gave very good grip.”
Schumacher, meanwhile, took charge of Ferrari’s test programme for the day.
Barrichello was sixth on Wednesday.
Though Rubens did not mention it, his Honda is sporting a radical new front wing this weekend.
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