Barrichello Pleased after 'Great Race'

Rubens Barrichello claimed that his choice of a two-stop strategy in the Spanish Grand Prix came agonisingly close to ending the dominance of Ferrari teammate Michael Schumacher.

Barrichello made one stop less than Schumacher and eventually finished 13.2 seconds behind the German in second place to complete a ferrari one-two.

But Barrichello insisted that he could have challenged Schumacher for victory if early race leader Jarno Trulli, of Renault, could have emerged ahead of Schumacher after the first set of fuel stops.

"I had a great race," said Barrichello. "It was difficult at the start with people running here and there but I kept out of problems and kept a good pace behind the others with such a heavy load on board.

"It was a good strategy, but to beat Michael my only chance was for Jarno to keep him behind for a stop longer. That was my hope and did not happen, but it was still a great race."

Schumacher emerged from his first stop on lap nine narrowly ahead of Trulli, who made an outstanding start to the race, and went on to take a comfortable victory. Barrichello's hopes of pressuring Schumacher were also hindered by a slow stop on his second visit to the pits on lap 43.