Grapevine: Barrichello makes V8 detour

The Brazilian's troubles with the RA106 meant that Honda Racing rescheduled their testing programme to give him a day of running in Italy last week.

That change of plan made him cancel a short break he was hoping to have at home in Brazil with his family. 

Barrichello felt it would be better for his jet lag if he flew straight to Australia from Europe, and he opted to jet into Adelaide for the V8 Supercar event to see close friend Max Wilson.

"It's a good way to entertain myself because I'm definitely not going to feel like sleeping watching the race here," Barrichello told the Adelaide Advertiser.

"There's no race that you don't enjoy watching because it's such a close battle. I enjoy it very much and not just because Max is there but because it's close racing and that's what you want to see."

Speaking about his relationship with Wilson, Barrichello said: "We used to play everything together that a young kid plays on our street. So for me it's quite an emotional thing to see that he's doing well, opening the door for Brazil on the V8s.

"We used to race in go-karts together but I'm one year older than Max so I moved on first. I had much more support with my sponsors than Max had. I was definitely luckier with the sponsors' side because Max has a huge talent."