Why F1’s most experienced driver Rubens Barrichello was a five-star hero

But the Brazilian was far from finished. He still had another 65 grands prix in him and today Barrichello remains the driver with the most F1 starts, on a final tally of 322. Kimi Räikkönen would likely have exceeded that number this season, and still might if racing resumes. The Finn is on 312 starts, just 10 behind Barrichello, as the 40-year-old enjoys an F1 Indian summer with Alfa Romeo – so will he set a new record? One thing is almost certain: he probably couldn’t care less…

As for Barrichello, he scored 11 grand prix wins and twice finished as championship runner-up during an epic career that spanned 1993 to 2011. He never quite hit the heights of top-line F1 superstar status, but much like his contemporary David Coulthard, on certain days when everything clicked he could be almost unbeatable. If only those days could have come more often…

2000 German Grand Prix – record-breaking duck

Barrichello served a long apprenticeship before he landed a top drive. Four seasons with Jordan followed by three with Stewart harvested four podium finishes, before he landed the chance his talent deserved at Ferrari.

Joining as team-mate to Michael Schumacher, around whom the team was centred, would test Barrichello’s resolve over the next six years – but the fact his stint lasted that long says everything about his value as the ultimate team player. And in his first season he broke his winless duck in style – with a little help from a bizarre moment of madness.

A troubled qualifying left him just 18^th on the grid, but Barrichello went to work on the old Hockenheim, with its long straights and tricky stadium section. By his first pitstop on lap 17 he was up to a brilliant third before the safety car was called for the most unlikely reason. A disgruntled ex-Mercedes employee chose to make a potentially deadly protest out on the circuit, and you could say he had his revenge: the Merc-powered McLarens lost their huge lead and eventually the victory.

But if Barrichello was gifted his chance, he still had plenty of work to do to earn the win. Rainfall forced most to pit, but Rubens gambled on staying out on dry-weather tyres and slithered through the stadium section on the edge of disaster. It paid off as he led home Mika Häkkinen and David Coulthard to win at the 124^th time of asking – itself a new record.

2002 Austrian Grand Prix – the moral victor

A winless 2001 as Schumacher swept to a second consecutive Ferrari title was hard for Barrichello to swallow, but ever-resilient he bounced back the following year when he won four races – his best single-season haul. Then again, the race everyone remembers was the one he was forced to give away.

At the A1-Ring Barrichello genuinely had the upper hand on his team-mate, taking pole position and leading all the way… until the final few yards when he reluctantly obeyed an order to give his hard-earned victory to Schumacher. Boos on the podium were just the start, as Ferrari’s actions – in what was just the sixth race out of a 17-round season – triggered a mass outcry and an FIA hearing that led to an eventual, but unrealistic, ban on team orders. A shameful day. But Barrichello emerged with his integrity intact.  

2003 British Grand Prix – his finest hour and a half

It’s an odd quirk that Barrichello should win the second race in four years to be interrupted by an insane track invader. But the idiot protester on Hangar Straight shouldn’t overshadow what was surely the Brazilian’s finest F1 performance.

Barrichello started what would be an incident-packed race from pole position, but had to fight his way back to the front after a poor start. His defining pass on Kimi Räikkönen’s McLaren that started at Stowe and finished at Bridge had the crowd on its feet, in an era when overtaking was too often almost impossible. That day at Silverstone, 17 passes were recorded for points-paying positions – and Barrichello’s was one to remember for years.

2009 European Grand Prix – finesse over brawn

Barrichello’s final wins for Ferrari, in 2004, appeared likely to be the last of his career. A move to hapless Honda proved largely frustrating, until the Japanese giant pulled the plug on its team at the end of 2008 in the wake of the global financial crisis and paved the way for Brawn GP to be created. Out of nowhere and in sensational circumstances, Barrichello suddenly found himself back in a pace-setting car.

Team-mate and eventual world champion Jenson Button pushed him into the shade early in the season, winning six of the first seven races, but in the second half of 2009 Barrichello hit back. His victory on the Valencia street circuit – his first for five years – was earned from a silky drive in which Brawn used clever pitstop strategy and Barrichello’s pure pace to slip ahead of Lewis Hamilton and Heikki Kovalainen in their McLarens.

2009 Italian Grand Prix – final blast in the park

Twice a winner at Monza for Ferrari, Barrichello added a third with Brawn GP for what would be his final F1 victory. Outpaced in qualifying, the Brawn pair were fastest in the race, with Barrichello holding the edge over his team-mate Button.

Hamilton gave the Brawns an admirable run for their money, running to a slower two-stop strategy in an attempt to sprint his way to an unlikely win. He was on target after a fantastic first stint on soft ‘option’ tyres, then lost pace on the ‘primes’ before charging up to within range of Button’s second place on the last lap. His heroic effort ended in a crash at the first Lesmo as Barrichello stroked to his personal Italian hat-trick.

Rubens would move on to Williams for two final seasons and finally stepped away from F1 with his head held high, a great ambassador for his sport and remembered as one of the nicest men to drive a grand prix car. Respect is forever due.

Images courtesy of Motorsport Images.