Q & A with Rubens Barrichello

Rubens Barrichello: I think that it is a very well done car. Last year we had not a lot of information about what it was going to be in terms of the aero package and so on. This year the whole group works much better together and the progress was inevitable. So it was good.

At Valencia I took it to the track with not a lot of expectations because it was a car that had last year's rear wing, and had some parts missing. So the car was deadly slow on the straight. So we really needed to take the car to the track for the reliability issues because it was coming late, so it was not a question of going for times.

Q. You appear quite fired up ahead of the new season; you say this season will be sweet 16. After the nightmares of last season, are you really excited?

RB: It is amazing, because at the end of the day you think it is the same thing again for the whole time all over again. But it is the excitement of a new era. Honestly, from deep inside, if it wasn't for how much I loved the driving, I love my kids and family and I would just stay at home to not be in this cold English weather.

So I do love so much the driving. For me it is a new start. I did have problems in my career and maybe I have mentioned that already - after three or four years of driving I thought, 'wow, how long am I going to stay in this?' Because I was fed up.

But right now I think I understand how to get the good energy where you need it, and the bad energy you can just put it away.

Q. Was it easy to pick yourself up after last year?

RB: From the pure point of view of someone opening a magazine and going to the last page and seeing the results of the year, then it is a 9th, 10th, or a DNF. Whatever, it was zero points. And that was sad. It was really sad.

But the whole year I had a lot of fun going through my mind, and a lot of overtaking moves, which you guys didn't see on television because they were not on TV, that I had a lot of pleasure with. I had qualifying laps that were greater than at any other time, so I knew I had done a good job.

The reason I didn't score any points last year was because we were gamblers. With a bad car you have to take gambles in strategy and going for crazy things. Sometimes it works, and sometimes it doesn't. In Canada I would have finished third if it wasn't for the last safety car. So in that, I would have scored many points already.

So I went home in peace with myself, and knowing I had to be physically better than in any other year. And I am. I am lighter than at any other time, and I feel good. So I had to go prepared for that and ready for the new season.

Q. How good does it feel to be working with Ross Brawn again?

RB: It is the best part of the job right now, honestly. If you say what was the team missing last year? It wasn't just a good car. It was someone who had the leadership and who could transform the feelings among people. And that is what we have right now.

Q. Is that all that is missing? What does the team need to get to the front?

RB: I think quite honestly when you have a bad year; you can see the bad things coming on. And you can see the good people getting on the top more than the bad people. There isn't a middle way - you see the good people getting away from the bad ones.

But last year there were too many people trying to be leaders, because they didn't know where they had to be. And there was a confusion - a big confusion - going on. With Ross now, you can even see in his interviews, the way he talks is the way he commands the whole attitude of the team. He gives some peace, you can feel that.

Q. Has the atmosphere changed then?

RB: Yes.

Q. You were with Ross at Ferrari for years. Is it possible to take over the good things from those days to Honda, or are the teams too different?

RB: I think he can do that. I think he can build something that will be a Honda period for winning, just like he had at Ferrari. This long, or that long, I don't know. I am sure he is not coming here to win one race, and that is it.

Q. What special qualities does Ross have in particular?

RB: Well his knowledge obviously. You talk to him about anything and he has the answer to that. And the most important thing for F1, is his calm nature in answering good or bad stuff. Sometimes you can lose your temper because of something, but I never saw him lose the temper. He gives you the feeling of harmony.

And then he does the job. The team have changed in the last two months a lot. Five minutes ago we were talking a little bit about the brakes, because that is something we need to improve on the car. For me, it makes life a lot easier because I can relate to him.

Sometimes, with 650 people you just have to go around and around to get to the one that is important. But then that one needs permission from someone else, and then it goes around in circles. And it was difficult. Now I can go to Ross. I can say, 'Look, in the last two years I had problems with this, and I think this.' And he comes back with a solution. It is just making life simple.

Q. It took Ross several years at Ferrari to get them into a position to win the world championship. Does it concern you that, if that progression happens at Honda, your career might be over by the time they get into the world championship position?

RB: I am grateful of everything I have had, but I don't think this is my last year. From deep inside I don't pretend to stop. I don't have any contract signed yet and so on, but I feel good. But I feel I am going to stop before someone tells me to.

Q. You enjoy driving a Formula One car so much, so would you consider testing, or is it just the racing that interests you?

RB: Initially I had problems in testing. I didn't like testing and I just wanted to go racing. I was young and anxious about the points and everything. But then I realised there is much more than that.

I don't know if I could do what Alex (Wurz) is doing for example, just doing something for some other drivers. Of course he will have such an important point in it, but I need to go to the track to know that I am changing the springs of the car because I am learning something for the next race.

I have this feeling of progression. With Michael (Schumacher), in all honesty and we might never know this, but he probably stopped one year too soon.

Q. Knowing Michael as you do, do you think he will race again in some category?

RB: He could do. He was as competitive as always in the go kart races we had in Brazil.

Q. How much of an impact will Alex Wurz have on the team?

RB: You know, when Nick Fry called me and I thought, 'wow, what a good idea. I hadn't thought of that.' And Alex was definitely the choice because of his experience and everyone knows how good a tester he is. I think it will be good. When we sit to talk there is a lot of mileage together, talking the same route. I think it will be a funny year on that side, improving the car.

In the first test he has done for us, he went on the same level of feeling the things that we needed to improve. We had to give him a run in the car to see what he thinks, because it doesn't matter if I tell him beforehand that the traction of the car isn't very good, he has to feel it himself. Some drivers cope with some things better than others.

Q. You are speaking now like a 16-year-old who has just landed his first F3 contract. Has there been a point in the last few years when you really considered stopping?

RB: Listen, when I went from Ferrari to Honda, the only reason I did that was because my space at Ferrari wasn't good enough. I have always requested more, and I am a person who is never happy with second. It looks like I was okay on the podium when they told me to stop to let Michael by, but for me behind the doors it was always a big fight.

And after six years I saw that I was making no progression. So I had to change. After the year with Honda, the first year, I did so much PR - I did more PR than my 14 years before. And that was for me too much. I think the concentration had to be on the car, and I told the guys that if they were happy to continue like that (with PR) then I wasn't happy any more. And I thought maybe at this time I had to stop.

But as soon as the team changed that, it was back to reality. And I knew that last year was just a going-by moment. It was something that we had to go through. I accepted it, but I always thought that I could make points in every race. So I woke up feeling that it was possible. Like I said, I didn't make it because we were just gambling.

We were not that serious on saying you are going to stop on lap 22, because that was the best one. We were going to stop on lap 35 because if there was a safety car coming in we might be lucky. I just enjoyed the fact that I was on different things. But I am feeling like a 16-year-old going back to see my friends at school.

Q. And in your present frame of mind, how long do you think you can carry on?

RB: As long as I physically can. I haven't reached the peak of my physical performance yet. There is a time when in athletics, my running will go down. I haven't reached that yet. And I am just too glad to go through Eau Rouge flat. What can I do? It is just that feeling I miss. That is why I do the go kart racing, that is why I put so much effort into it. I love being there in the middle of things. But if I don't feel competitive in some way, then it is time to stop.

Q. You have said that you consider Turkey as the race where you become the most experienced F1 driver. How come?

RB: Well, at the end of the day I have asked everyone - and nobody gives me a right answer of what I have done and haven't done. There are two races - Barcelona and Magny-Cours (in 2002) where I was actually standing on the grid and didn't start. So if the FIA doesn't consider that to be a start, then fine.

But I took part in Spa-Francorchamps in 1998 because I was involved in the shunt. I also feel Imola 1994 I was at too, because Friday I was there. Imola, for me, is only debatable. The other two I was standing there on the grid. There are two or three races we have to consider.

So I think maximum I would have 253, so you can take it to 251 or 250 - so it will be Barcelona or Turkey. I need to know because I am doing something special on the helmets, because I thought it was a good idea to paint something different. I just need to know which race I have to bring it to.