Rubens Barrichello on Ferrari, Brawn GP, Brazil and money in F1®
Tuesday, 29 September 2020
The 11-time Grand Prix winner speaks on In the Fast Lane.
The Australian Grand Prix Corporation podcast In the Fast Lane has released this week's episode with Brazil's 11-time Grand Prix winner, Rubens Barrichello. In the Fast Lane Episode 13 is presented by leading cybersecurity firm Kaspersky, commemorating the 10-year anniversary of its partnership with Scuderia Ferrari.
Barrichello joined In the Fast Lane co-hosts Matt Clayton and Michael Lamonato to reminisce on the glory days at Ferrari partnering Michael Schumacher in the early 2000s, being a key player in Brawn GP's fairytale rise to championship glory in 2009, and still racing today at the age of 48.
When discussing his time at Ferrari, Barrichello said that much of the team’s success was the result of their effective testing and the trust that he and Schumacher developed in each other’s decisions. He also believes the current focus on money is what is stopping teams from reaching their potential.
“I think it was a great combination, because people don’t imagine how good me and Michael worked together. He had a vote of confidence on things I had tested, and the translation from the tunnel to the track was phenomenal,” said Barrichello.
“Nowadays, a lot of people come in with the bag of cash and think Formula 1 is like that, and why a team is not where it should be is just because of that, it’s because it thinks it needs money, money, money, money. That’s where the development of a race car goes bad.”
Barrichello goes on to discuss Brazil’s connection with Formula 1® and why there has not been a Brazilian driver on the grid since 2017.
“Brazil produces really good drivers, financially it is a country that doesn’t do that well so it’s tough. In all honestly, I think that we still have the great drivers there, we have quite a few on the list to become Formula 1 drivers,” Barrichello said.
“I think Formula 1 is trying to change it back to the real world that we had in the past, but right now, it’s just cash, if you have cash you get into Formula 1 and that’s definitely not the case in Brazil.”
The podcast is available on Spotify, Google Podcasts and Apple Podcasts platforms as well as being uploaded to AGPC’s official YouTube channels.
In the Fast Lane
Episode 13 presented by
