Barrichello Aims to Complain Less and Win More

Ferrari driver Rubens Barrichello has vowed to not complain during his 2002 whenever he fails to perform as he expects.

Barrichello, in his second year with World Champions Ferrari, finished way behind his four-time champion Michael Schumacher in 2001 after failing to claim any victories to add to his only Grand Prix win, scored at the 2000 German Grand Prix, but he is hoping to return to the top spot this year.

"This year I have decided not to complain and get upset if things do not go perfectly," said the Brazilian today in Australia. "You learn a lot in life and what I love doing most in life is racing. After two months without driving a race car, I found I really missed it.

"This sport gives me so much pleasure that I have decided to stop coming up for reasons why I have not won, saying it was because of this or that problem. As for my personal goals for the year, I want to improve, to do better and hopefully win races."

Ferrari will use last year's car for the season opening Australian Grand Prix this weekend, and like his teammate, Barrichello believes the Maranello-based squad have taken the right decision.

"I don't agree with those who have said that it is a mistake to have brought the old car here, because in fact, at the start of every season, there is never much difference between the previous year's car and the new one," he added. "The new one is always developed during the course of the year.

"Of course, the F2001 has already been through a full year's development programme, so there is possibly not so much more that we can get out of it."

Barrichello also said that he expected rivals McLaren to present the strongest challenge this season, but like Schumacher, he refused to predict what will happen based on the pre-season testing times.

"From the winter test times it is hard to know who will be our strongest rivals, but it is obvious that McLaren has made a step forward," said Barrichello. "Of course, Williams will also be strong, but from the comments I have seen, the McLaren drivers are very happy with their car."