Barrichello sure he'll be in F1 next year

Although the Brawn driver looks unlikely to be retained by his team, Barrichello is upbeat about his future chances, having been linked with a move to Williams.

And the veteran racer is sure he will continue racing next year.

"Next year? A hundred per cent. Or 99.9, maybe it's better to say that," Barrichello told reporters ahead of the Japanese Grand Prix.

He added: "It's fairly open, I've said that. I'm in much better shape that I've ever been, winning races and just being in the paddock's mouth. All I can say is that I wish to be driving a competitive car.

"I think I will be driving a competitive car, but so far that's all I can say. It's not done and I had two hours alongside Ross Brawn coming into here, and 99% of the time we talked about Singapore and about the rest.

"But my manager and the people back in England will talk to the team, but the team is focused on winning the championship, so basically it's not about talking about next year."

The Brazilian, 15 points behind team-mate Jenson Button with three races to go, said his only thought for this weekend was to go for victory.

"Yes, it's winning, winning, winning," he said about his target for Japan. It's pretty simply. People asked if I was going to change my tactic and go flat out because I need to win. But I have been flat out for a long time. I have nothing else to think about. The gap has been bigger in the past. It was down to 14, then it grew up to 15.

"If everything was okay in Singapore I would have shaved another point from Jenson. I have to try to win the race without worrying where Jenson is and after the race is done we'll see if I have conquered more or less points."