Jonathan Noble: Online

If you are one of the nearly 40 million people who has watched the famous 'Battle at Kruger' video on you tube, will fully understand how attack is the best form of defence.

It almost defies belief how the 'hunters', some lions and crocodiles, lose out to a herd of the 'hunted' buffaloes, who are angered at one of their calves being pounced upon.

That attack mentality has parallels with the way that Lewis Hamilton went about his business in China last weekend. From the outside, it seemed the world was out to get him - in the press, in the paddock and out on the race track. He was a hunted man.

Lewis Hamilton celebrates his win in China © LAT

But rather than let it all get to him and resign himself to his fate, he went out there and turned the tables. It was maximum attack. His victory left Ferrari a bit shell shocked about what had gone wrong, and helped move the Briton one step closer to the world title.

There are plenty of times in any driver's career when he can either choose to simply let things happen, or he can go out there and change his destiny. And taking action was certainly the approach adopted by Rubens Barrichello throughout the Chinese Grand Prix weekend too, as he upped the ante in his bid to keep his F1 career going.

My sources tell me that Honda Racing have informed Barrichello that he is free to seek options elsewhere on the grid - which is as polite as possible a way of saying that your services are effectively surplus to requirements.

It has been clear for some time that Barrichello's future at Honda rested on Fernando Alonso choosing not to go there. Yet with the Spaniard now almost certain to stick it out at Renault for at least one more year, Barrichello's chances have not improved dramatically as the team ponder the marketing value (and sponsorship input) of youngsters like Bruno Senna and Nelson Piquet instead.

Now, many a driver in the twilight of their career like Barrichello may well have simply thought the game was up. With 270 grands prix under his belt, and plenty of money in the bank, there would be few raised eyebrows if the Brazilian announced he was calling it quits after Brazil.

But Barrichello is not finished with F1 yet. And he is doing everything he can to ensure that he gives his future the best chance possible. On Friday afternoon I was speaking to Honda Racing CEO Nick Fry in the Shanghai paddock when we spotted Barrichello walking into Scuderia Toro Rosso's offices with Gerhard Berger for a chat about next year. "Interesting," smiled Nick.

Sources also tell me that Barrichello has offered his services to Renault, as the French car manufacturer seek a suitable teammate for Alonso - with Piquet having had a pretty disappointing time this season.

And if Barrichello has upped his campaign off track to stay in F1, he is also making sure that on track he is getting noticed too. The RA108 is now a tail end machine, which leaves it drivers pretty frustrated. Yet in China Barrichello hauled himself into Q2 for the first time since the Canadian Grand Prix. And crucially, it now means he is 9-8 up against Jenson Button when it comes to out qualifying each other.

Speaking to Barrichello afterwards, he kept ramping home how motivated he is to prove he deserves the chance.

"It is almost like if we try to change destiny here - but the message has already been sent," explains Barrichello. "What I said is that the thing that is so true for me - I cannot sell experience and speed because that is what they know already. But I can sell my motivation.

Rubens Barrichello after the Chinese Grand Prix © LAT

"People might think, a 36-year-old, what does he want more after beating (Riccardo) Patrese's record? Well, I am so fired up, I have lots of speed myself and the day I think I don't have it any more I will be the first one to say thank you very much, it's time to go home and play some golf. But right now golf is just a hobby and I am fired up to race."

A seat at Honda next year certainly looks attractive, with Ross Brawn's influence set to pay off. And with Barrichello vowing to test as much as the team want, and lose the few pounds that the team want off him, he is campaigning hard for an opportunity that he thinks he deserve.

"I made the choice to come out of Ferrari thinking that this would be a different chance of becoming world champion, but I was very wrong on that," he says. "It may be better next year, so I think it is only fair that you give me a better car to drive.

"I've got to respect everything, it comes from the top, and I just hope they don't change the destiny because it is almost like it is meant to be."

He adds: "I tell you, I am a better driver than I have ever been. You learn with mistakes and you learn with the tough times, and they only exist to make you tougher.

"You know, right now I am definitely calmer than I ever was alongside Michael. I always found I didn't get the treatment I wished I had, which is why I left. I feel at Ferrari, without Michael (Schumacher) I would definitely be a championship contender.

"But I am in this position right now. I am happy with my personal feeling in the way I drive. You have to look in the mirror and see yourself that you've made progress, even if 14th on the grid looks very, very bad. It is like a pole position lap for us."

That is the talk of a fired up man. It looks like Felipe Massa is not going to be the only Brazilian driver who will be adopting the buffalo stance at Interlagos.