Reubens Barrichello is leaving Ferrari for a seat in BAR Honda this coming 2006 Formula1 season.
I've seen many races where Ruebens was told to pull back and let Michael take the win for the world championship points. This after leading 95% of the race. Thank God for the team orders ban.
Despite banning team orders, mighty Ferrari still gets away with it. It was disappointing to hear Ross Braun over team radio tell the boys in red at the last 15 laps of the weird 2005 6-car Indianapolis Grand Prix to stop racing and maintain position. In effect, the race was decided even with 15 laps to go: Schumi 1st, Ruebens 2nd, Tiago Montero of Jordan 3rd. So what's wrong with that? Well, Reubens was fighting and he had a faster car evidenced by pulling fastest lap after fastest lap, nose to tail with Schumi's V10 prancing horse. Give Reubens that 15 laps and the race would've ended differently.
And then there are the different race strategies. Admittedly it makes a lot of sense to put your two drivers of different tyres, pit-stop schedule, car setup, only if you plan to get both of your cars up front and win the race or at least score some serious points. But that's not the case for our Reubens. Take the case of the race last weekend in Hungaroring: Schumi got the pole for the starting grid, and where's Reubens? World #2 in the 4th row, #7 on the grid having been 1.276 seconds slower than his teammate. One and two hundred seventy sixth of a seconds slower? Where are the Ferrari 1-2 qualifying records of last year? Whatever happened to making sure both your cars starting good with a fighting chance for the chequered flag?
So after thirteen of ninteen races this year, we have Schumi with 55 championship points, 3rd contender for the World Championship of which he is the defending champion having won 7 years in a row. And Reubens? 4 places behind at #7 with 31 points because 7 out of 13 races, Ferrari didn't give him a car that would finish at least 8th place to earn at least 1 championship point. Oh, the two times he scored better this season than Schumi was in Melbourne when Reubens finished 2nd on the podium giving him eight points to Schumi's nil and in Nurburgring when he scored 6 points having finished 3rd on the podium to Schumi's 2 points for being 7th car to cross the finish line.
Here's what F1-Live has to say:
Reubens, I hope BAR Honda will take better care of you next year and give you a fighting chance to shine.
For more on Reubens Barrichello, click here.
"Winner of nine Formula One races in his career, Barrichello has grown increasingly tired of living in the shadows of seven-time world champion [Michael] Schumacher..." (Source: AFP)
I've seen many races where Ruebens was told to pull back and let Michael take the win for the world championship points. This after leading 95% of the race. Thank God for the team orders ban.
Despite banning team orders, mighty Ferrari still gets away with it. It was disappointing to hear Ross Braun over team radio tell the boys in red at the last 15 laps of the weird 2005 6-car Indianapolis Grand Prix to stop racing and maintain position. In effect, the race was decided even with 15 laps to go: Schumi 1st, Ruebens 2nd, Tiago Montero of Jordan 3rd. So what's wrong with that? Well, Reubens was fighting and he had a faster car evidenced by pulling fastest lap after fastest lap, nose to tail with Schumi's V10 prancing horse. Give Reubens that 15 laps and the race would've ended differently.
And then there are the different race strategies. Admittedly it makes a lot of sense to put your two drivers of different tyres, pit-stop schedule, car setup, only if you plan to get both of your cars up front and win the race or at least score some serious points. But that's not the case for our Reubens. Take the case of the race last weekend in Hungaroring: Schumi got the pole for the starting grid, and where's Reubens? World #2 in the 4th row, #7 on the grid having been 1.276 seconds slower than his teammate. One and two hundred seventy sixth of a seconds slower? Where are the Ferrari 1-2 qualifying records of last year? Whatever happened to making sure both your cars starting good with a fighting chance for the chequered flag?
So after thirteen of ninteen races this year, we have Schumi with 55 championship points, 3rd contender for the World Championship of which he is the defending champion having won 7 years in a row. And Reubens? 4 places behind at #7 with 31 points because 7 out of 13 races, Ferrari didn't give him a car that would finish at least 8th place to earn at least 1 championship point. Oh, the two times he scored better this season than Schumi was in Melbourne when Reubens finished 2nd on the podium giving him eight points to Schumi's nil and in Nurburgring when he scored 6 points having finished 3rd on the podium to Schumi's 2 points for being 7th car to cross the finish line.
Here's what F1-Live has to say:
As Rubino, as his fellow Brazilians fondly call him, waves bye-bye to Scuderia, Maranelo and Ferrari, his team of 5 years, I pray the best for him. I am part of the 81.04% of ITV-F1.com fans that say it's good for Reubens to move to another team.The 2004 season saw Rubens take two race victories, but both wins came after Schumacher had already wrapped up his title and it can be argued that such is the dominance of the Ferrari team in Formula One, anything other than the runner up position in the championship for Barrichello is a failure. Barrichello gained the runner-up spot in the championship once gain in 2004, but despite his 12 podiums, failed to match the pace of Michael Schumacher.
Rubens Barrichello remains a most impressive race driver, but as long as the Brazilian remains in the shadow of Michael Schumacher, his immense talent is being hidden from view.
Reubens, I hope BAR Honda will take better care of you next year and give you a fighting chance to shine.
For more on Reubens Barrichello, click here.
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