For me is Rubens Barrichello one of the F1 nice guys. It was clear that he loved speed and adrenaline; he started in 322 grand prix races in 19 seasons. Still today he has this nice smile and remains a sunny and still popular figure, now enjoying the racing career of his two sons and still racing in the Brazilian NASCAR, winning the championship in 2025.
Rubens arrived in Europe in 1990 after his early karting years. He had won five Brazilian championships and one South-American. When he was only 16 years old, he raced in Formula Ford. Because his father had closed a deal with Brazilian food company Arisco, he got a drive in the GM Formula Opel Lotus Euroseries with the Draco team. He won the title. When he was not racing, he stayed on his own in Oxford and went on to learn English.
For 1991 he moved to F3 with Dick Bennetts and West Surrey Racing. That brought him into the spotlights thanks to the close battle with David Coulthard. It was Rubens who won the championship at the last race at Thruxton.
The next move was F3000. He chose an Italian team, Il Barone Rampante. He had some good results and a big accident at Enna, but also a third place in the championship. During the year, talks with some F1 teams were started.
With a personal finance with the owner of Arisco, Barrichello signed with Eddie Jordan for 1993 to drive the Jordan 193 next to Ivan Capelli and Thierry Boutsen. His third race at a wet and slippery Donington was a highlight. By two-thirds in the race he drove on the second place behind Ayrton Senna. He was third after the pitstop. But with five laps to go, he ran out of fuel. After a strong P7 in France, his first points came at Suzuka with fifth place.
For 1994, Eddie Irvine came in the team. Rubens had some strong races. In his home race at Interlagos he was fourth, and in the next race at Aida he climbed to second before losing out to Berger’s Ferrari in the last part of the race and finished third. His first podium and second in the standings behind Michael Schumacher.
A fortnight later came the tragic events at Imola. Barichello had the first bad accident of the weekend in Friday qualifying. He approached the Variante Bassa maybe a little too quick and the kerbs launched the car, which cartwheeled it into the fencing before bouncing back on the track to land on its side. Professor Watkins at the scene saved his life. He had swallowed his tongue and was chocking. The professor pulled it out. When he woke up, Ayrton Senna sat beside him. The next day Roland Ratzenberger was killed when his Simtek went off at Tosa. In Sunday’s race, Senna had his tragic fatal accident. Rubens had a good relation with him since his first GP.
Rubens went on with four more fourth places that season. The highlight was however a pole-position at Spa!
In 1995 Jordan switched to Peugeot engines. The season started not well. He was slower than Irvine. It took for him until the Canada GP to understand why. He had to switch from left food braking to right foot braking. That got him to P2 in Canada. With the Jordan 195, he scored 10 points, P11 in the standings.
Eddie Irvine went to Ferrari and the new team mate for 1996 was Martin Brundle. They did not get along immediately. Martin had some difficulties early in the season and Rubens helped where necessary. And then there was a race where Martin was in front, but Barichello was much faster. He was not allowed to pass. That was also the start of a period where Rubens was not feeling at ease with Eddie Jordan. He felt not wanted anymore. He kept driving with a smile on his face: P4 in Argentina and England, P5 European GP, Imola and Italy. Overall eight in the championship.
He went on to a new team boss, Jacky Stewart. Totally different world. The first thing Jacky did was make Rubens by a new suit for a meeting with the sponsors.
But he never gave his usual advice and lessons of how you should drive the Stewart SF1-Ford car. The first four races were all failures. Then the F1 world moved to Monaco for a wet race. Rubens had a stunning drive. With the tight streets of Monaco totally wet and hardly any grip, he went from tenth on the grid to fourth by lap 2 and second by lap 6. Then he went after Michel Schumacher’s Ferrari for the rest of the race. He finished second in only the fifth race for the team.
Rubens next season,1998, with Stewart was not so good. With the SF2 he finished fifth in Spain and Canada. In 1999, with the SF3, it was a little bit better, more balance and more speed. In Brazil, Rubens qualified third and came into the lead. The crowd and Rubens were going crazy. He remained in the lead until his pitstop and then the engine failed. He was third in Imola and at Magny-Cours after again a brilliant weekend. In the rainy qualifications, he got pole-position! In the race he was leading for 44 laps and after his last pitstop he fell to P3. There was also a podium at the Nürburgring, a race where Johnny Herbert scored Stewart’s first win. All good for a P7 in the championship.
During the 1999 season, Ferrari was stalking Barichello. He finally had a one to one talk with Jean Todt. It took not long to come to a deal. Rubens specifically wanted a contract without an obligation to stay behind Michael Schumacher. Todt said: “we do not do that at Ferrari”. But in the first races of the 2000 season, he saw that the Spare T-car was just set-up for Michael. When he asked why the T-car was not alternated between the two drivers, he got the answer that in Schumacher’s contract was stipulated that he alone always would get the T-car. So, Rubens learned that the Schumacher contract had much more items in it that were not in his contract.
The first race where Barrichello was superior to his team-mate was in the muddy April British GP. He took a brilliant pole-position in the wet and led from the start. Schumacher drove around in eight. Halfway Rubens suffered a hydraulics malfunction that sent him spinning into retirement.
And at Hockenheim, his car failed on the first lap of qualifying. He had to wait for the spare car as Schumacher had an accident in the morning. He finally made it to P18 on the grid. At the start of the race, Schumacher was out in the start-line pile-up. Rubens drove strong and was running third after half-distance with Mika Häkkinen and David Coulthard in front. They came into the pits for wet tyres. Team boss Ross Brawn told him also to come in. But Rubens stayed out and won the race. Splendid display from P18 on the grid to a victory. A hugely emotional Rubens Barichello on the top of the podium with the Brazilian anthem playing was great to see. It was his first win since his F3 win.
For the record. Barichello scored with the F1 2000 Ferrari second places in Australia, Monaco, Canada and the USA and third places in Spain, France, Austria and Malaysia. That added up to fourth in the championship.
In 2001, Schumacher was the champion with nine victories and Rubens backed him up faithfully. His closest shot at winning was at Monza where he fought for the lead with Juan Pablo Montoya’s Williams. A slow pitstop made him finish second. The difference in treatment was visible in the Austrian GP. Coulthard was leading in font of Barichello, Schumacher third. He got the order from Jean Todt to let the German past; Rubens did that only in the ultimate lap.
With 10 podium finishes, Rubens was third in the championship.
Then came a strong 2002 season and a different Austrian GP. In qualifying Rubens got pole-position, he led the race from the start and was seconds ahead in the last stages of the race. Then Ross Brawn again ordered him to let Michael win the race. They argued about it for eight laps. Rubens felt he did not deserve this. He kept thinking about it and only in the final corner he moved aside. He felt he did not want any negativity from Ferrari afterwards and his mission would be to learn Ferrari how to think straight, away from the racetrack. Car number 1 crossed the line as winner and the crowd booed their displeasure at the obvious fix. On the podium, Michael made an embarrassed Rubens stand on the top step, knowing he had 10 points in the pocket. The FIA summoned both drivers and Ferrari management. Because the rule book did not say anything about it, all they could do was fine the team for an incorrect podium protocol.
After that Austrian debacle, Rubens went on to lead Michael home at the Nürburgring, the Hungaroring (from pole) and Monza. The came the farcial finish in the US GP. (see photo upper left below). Both Ferrari were in the lead. Schumacher tried to organise a photo finish, but misjudged it. Rubens was a nose length ahead at the finish. Or was it payback time ? Schumacher did not wanted to talk about it.
Barichello finished now second in the championship.
In 2003 Rubens took three poles and won at Silverstone and Suzuka, in total 8 podium finishes. He found the Ferrari F2003 very suitable to his driving style. In 2004 he was again a runner-up in the F1 championship and stood 14 times on the podium. Once again he led Michael home to win at Monza, including pole and setting fastest lap. He also won the first China GP, again from pole.
In 2005 he finished eighth in the championship. He had no troubles with his team mate Schumacher, but Ferrari kept seeing the German as their number one driver. That was one of the reasons, Rubens decided to quit the team.
2003:
2004:
2005:
For 2006 (photo left)he went to Honda alongside Jenson Button. That year’s Honda showed some handling problems and results were not steady. His best finish was a fourth place at Monaco and Hungary; a P7 in the standings. The 2007 Honda RA 107 (photo right) was aerodynamically a disaster and for the first time in his career he scored no points.
In the meantime, Ross Brawn had left the Scuderi Ferrari and was on a sabbatical year. Rubens started to push the Honda people to talk to him. And yes, Brawn joined the team. It was too late for the 2008 car. In the year Rubens scored a third in Bahrein and in total a P14 in the championship. In the Turkish GP, he started with a Honda in special livery. He started his 257th F1 race!
In December 2008 his world fell apart. Honda announced out of the blue it was pulling out of F1 because of financial reasons. The Brackley-based team was for sale. It looked like his career was over, there were no free seats at any team. Then three months later, his phone rang. It was Ross Brawn, telling him he had bought the team and if he wanted to come to England to sign a contract.
After the tests in Barcelona and the good handling and balance of the car and the Mercedes engine, he and Jenson Button were convinced the would start a season that would give them great fun. And that was right. Jenson went on to be world champion and Rubens won two races. In the European GP at Valencia and again at Monza. He ended third in the championship.
A team story of Brawn GPcan be read on the website
Brawn became Mercedes with Michael Schumacher and Nico Rosberg as drivers and Barichello accepted an offer from Frank Williams. With the Williams FW32 Cosworth, he finished in the points in 10 races. The Belgian GP was his 300th start in a F1 car. He stayed at Williams in 2011, but the FW 33 was not competitive. The P9 finishes were his best result.
If he wanted to do another year, he had to come up with a lot of sponsor money. He turned the F1 page.
2010:
Barichello was asked by his friend Tony Kanaan to drive for KV racing in Indycar. He was rather good on driving on the ovals. In the Indianapolis 500, he even was leading the race. His P12 earned him the title – Rookie of the year. A drive for 2013 was again about bringing money. He already did three races in the Brazilian V8 stock cars for charity in 2012, so he started on a full season and is now still active in Brazil! In 2025 he won the NASCAR Brazil championship at the wheel of a Ford Mustang.
In 2017, Rubens raced for Racing Team Nederland in the 24 hours of Le Mans. His team mates were Jan Lammers and Frits van Eerd. The finished P11 in the LMP2-class. In 2025, Rubens was back in Le Mans to see his son racing in the WEC. His dream: a father-son start in this French race.
