Barrichello to have call on T-car

Although Michael Schumacher says he is out to win his home grand prix at Hockenheim this weekend, Rubens Barrichello will have first call on Ferrari's T-car for the German GP and the rest of the season

Jul 25, 2002, 3:39 PM

The spare Ferrari is normally assigned to Schumacher but for the remaining six races of the season Barrichello will be favoured as Ferrari attempts to get Rubens up into second place in the world championship.

Although Schumacher has a whopping 96 points from the 11 races held so far, the battle for second place is tight. Juan Pablo Montoya's hard-earned fourth place in France moved him ahead of Barrichello into second place, on 34 points. Barrichello himself is tied with Ralf Schumacher for third place, on 32 points, while David Coulthard is well in touch, with 30 points.

The weekend has not started too well for Barrichello, however. While he failed to take up his rightful position on the starting grid for the third time this season in France, the gremlins have now spread to his aeroplane, which had a technical problem that prevented the Brazilian getting to Hockenheim on Thursday, where he was scheduled to appear in an FIA press conference...