Rubens Barrichello Q&A

"I finished a very good season in 2003. Everything that we have done since the end of the season has been to prepare the new car for the new season. The new car should be a very good one to do the job. We just have to get on with our lives and check it out. I would very much like to start the new season in the same way that I finished the last one."



"I think I've always been a challenge to him, in a way. You know, when we talk too far ahead in terms of the results at the end of the year, we never know. Someone who would have finished third in all the races would probably have had a chance to win the championship last year. So the championship is wide open, especially because the competition is very hard, as it was in 2003. I'm a better person and a better driver than I was before I became a Ferrari driver. That was the third step in my career. I had Jordan and I had Stewart, and I learnt a lot with both of them, but I had to change a lot when I came into Ferrari. I think I'm doing better than I've ever done. You have to dream and you have to believe that you can do it, and that's my status right now.



"The McLaren is going to be a very good car. To be honest, they're going to have a car that they know already, because it's like a year-old car. It never raced in 2003, but it's a car that they've developed quite a lot, so I think they're going to be one of our tough challengers. If they're going to be the toughest challenger, I don't know - we're going to have to wait and see. Of course, Kimi was the closest challenger to Michael last year, but that's all I can say."



"No. Last year we didn't have the new car ready for the first race, but this year we do. I felt that there some people were waiting to see something different on the nose or on the back of the car just because Williams came up with something new, and people think that means they're more prepared. I don't think that's the story at all. As Rory Byrne mentioned during the launch, the car is 99 percent new - every part of the car and the aerodynamics have been changed. So it's not about which is the most ugly or beautiful car, it's about which car does the running and has the consistency. I think this car is only an evolution of last year's, but that's pretty much what we need. I think that good work by Bridgestone and our other partners will do the job. But I don't think we are less prepared than last year."



"I think I've changed my mind-game a lot. I could say now that I feel I'm a winner more than any other time in my career. I feel that now, being part of Ferrari, I've had two or three years of a learning experience. Now, after three years, I'm much, much better prepared to win. If the car is able to do it, and the tyres and engine are there, then I should be there too. That's all. No promises, but I'm feeling good in myself."



"No, I've never been afraid of anything like that, because when I came to Ferrari in 2000 I was immature in a way that for a big team was mentally difficult. To take the challenge to race Michael was always difficult, so I've never been afraid of anything. I'm not saying that I'm ready to take the challenge to win the title, I'm saying that I feel I'm in much better shape than any other time. So if this is the year for me to win the championship I'll be fine."