Rubens Barrichello

Ferrari's Rubens Barrichello has been a familiar face on the podium this year, but thus far he hasn't reached the top step. Indeed while he has managed to regularly finish behind team mate Michael Schumacher, he's never really looked like challenging him.

It's a strange situation, bearing in mind how strongly Rubens finished last season. Was that just a case of him taking advantage of an under pressure Michael reining in his qualifying performances in order to avoid silly mistakes? Quite possibly. It could also be that Rubens hasn't found the 2004 package as much to his liking as the car with which he finished last year. Like so many other drivers, Rubens likes everything to be just so, while Schumacher can seemingly adapt to what ever he's given.

A couple of times this year Rubens had got caught in the pack and then seemingly done very little to dig himself out of it. In that sense he's flattered Michael, and given those who assume that the Ferrari package is pretty much unbeatable food for thought.

"Well, this year is the best start of my career in terms of points," says Rubens. "I'm not disappointed, but I must say with Michael winning six grands prix already I should have won at least some of them. So there are some mixed emotions in there. I think we are doing a superb job, the car, the tyres, the engine. Some things are still lacking a little bit.

"I had a lack of time in the car before I started the season, although my first race was really good, and it was the one where I put more pressure on Michael than the others. But in terms of strategy, in terms of something, I was missing a little bit. So I'm looking for a better [run of] five or six races, beginning in Canada.

"We've run one third of the championship already. It's a long championship, and I think loads of things will be happening. I had some pretty good races, while some others didn't work so well, just because of that qualifying thing. I'm pushing as hard as I can I think, with determination and work. That's what makes results - stop talking and just get on with the right foot and try to do the job."

It's interesting that Rubens makes reference to strategy. Over the years he's often gone his own way in an attempt to outfox his team mate, and at other times he's been told to do something different because it suits Ferrari. After all this time you sense that he's still not sure that he's always getting what's best for him.

"You learn all the time. I'm not trying to be critical for the past races. Being different gives you the chance to be better or worse. I think Michael had a race that was really fast from the beginning in Nurburgring, so there was no way I could have beaten him, because I was blocked. But for example in Barcelona it almost happened, because I as very close to him, and for one second I could have been in front of him.

"I think my priority is the qualifying, a little bit. It's something that I love, the best part of the weekend is to qualify. I haven't been qualifying that well in terms of everything, strategy, set-up. I think I've been putting quite good laps with what I had in hand, but I need to improve that in order to pray for a pole position. And then you have the chance to win the race."

Despite his current frustrations, Rubens says he enjoys one lap qualifying, although he would prefer to see a more level playing field.

"I'm in favour of one lap, because one lap is like a final exam, when you study a lot and you have the one chance to graduate. Qualifying is pretty much like that. The only thing that is not good about qualifying is that you qualify with so many kilos of fuel inside the car. Every driver wants the car to be at its best, just to try it out. We could go back to low fuel and then you would definitely see who was the best driver in qualifying.

"Just take Nurburgring, for example, and the amount of fuel I had in the car. If I would take that out I would just try to beat Michael's time. But nobody ever saw that, because he won the race and I finished second, and everyone forgot it. With low fuel in the car, it would have been possible."

But is it also a case what comes first, the chicken or the egg? At times this year Ferrari insiders have made it pretty clear that the Brazilian could not match his team mate's pace in practice on Friday and Saturday morning. Knowing that he wouldn't be able to get on the front row to help his team mate, and that the Renaults would probably pass him anyway, he's been given a heavier fuel load and a chance to gain ground during the race. That in turn has obviously compromised his qualifying still further.

So what of Canada? The temperature can very enormously, and the track changes a lot as rubber goes down during the weekend. It will be interesting to see what unfolds.

"It is a racing track where you use low downforce on the car, and by using lower downforce you use the tyres more. The car slides more, and the tyre has to have a big effect on it. So basically the selection of the tyres here is quite important. We could have quite an eventful Friday trying to choose between both our tyres, which I think are very good options.

"As I said, Michael won six races and I have won none for the time being. I have the car to do it, and I have the engine and the tyres. So it's up to me to try to improve the situation. I hope it's as close as the race on Sunday."