Barrichello not afraid of Button

Barrichello is leaving the Ferrari team after six seasons as Michael Schumacher's teammate to join the Honda-owned squad alongside Button.

The British driver has been at BAR since the 2003 season, but the prospect of racing alongside him is not worrying Barrichello after having competed as Schumacher's sidekick for so long.

"Button? Someone who was teammates with Schumacher can't be scared of Jenson," Barrichello told Gazzetta dello Sport. "BAR haven't yet won. I hope I'll bring with me the knowledge on how to win from Ferrari."

The Brazilian, who always played second fiddle to Schumacher, is hoping his new team will allow him to beat the German seven-time champion.

"At Ferrari the tension was all aimed at making Michael win the Championship. Who knows if now I'll have better opportunities to beat him," Barrichello told Autosprint.

Barrichello will still be a Ferrari driver until the end of the 2005 season, and he won't be allowed to test for BAR until the start of the new year.

"I would have liked to do some testing with BAR before the end of the year," he said. "Never mind, I'll go on vacation with [my wife] Silvana, and I'll only get to meet my new car on January 11th.

"These have really been my last laps with Ferrari and I feel a hole inside my stomach. It's been six beautiful years which allowed me to get the experience needed to try to win the Championship with Honda.

"I'm not leaving Ferrari now because they aren't doing as well as before; [in fact] I'm sure it'll be strong again."

The Brazilian drove his final laps in a Ferrari on Monday, when he was at the wheel of the three-seater car to take his family for a ride at Fiorano.

"I felt incredible emotion: I felt like crying when I saw the happiness of my grandfather and my father," Barrichello said.

"Through their eyes I re-lived the film of my career. At times we went fast, I even hit 290km/h and my grandpa was shouting 'this is marvellous, push harder, go faster...'"