Old habits die hard

This has probably been a difficult week for Rubens Barrichello. As Formula One testing kicked off again in Barcelona, the most experienced driver in the sport's history has been back in Brazil, as he was not asked to be part of Honda's busy programme of preparations for 2009. Instead 'his' car was driven in Spain by countrymen Bruno Senna and Lucas di Grassi, both of whom are in the frame for a race seat alongside Jenson Button.

Rubens meanwhile remains in a state of limbo. His contract has not been renewed for next season, but neither has he been told definitively that he is not wanted. Officially he remains on the Honda shortlist, alongside the two F1 newcomers and, presumably, the likes of Anthony Davidson. Unofficially, Honda folk imply that the chances of him being retained for a fourth season are slim.

His only other option for next season is at Scuderia Toro Rosso, where it's very apparent that there must be sound commercial reasons behind any driver decision.

Bearing in mind his close connections with the family, it must be strange for Rubens to face the fact that his F1 career may be ended as the Senna name returns to F1. But he has not given up hope.

You might wonder why he remains so intent on hanging on - Honda sources even suggest that they wished he had taken the Coulthard approach and made a dignified exit - but that is to misunderstand the psyche of the racing driver. Rubens may have completed an amazing 16 full seasons, but he is still only 36, and insists that he is as motivated as ever. He just isn't ready to stop, so why be forced into it?

At Interlagos a couple of weeks ago he refused to accept that his home race might also be his last.

Spectators show their support for Rubens Barrichello in Interlagos © XPB

"I'm not thinking about that, honestly," he said when I suggested that it might be. "A lot of people are thinking about that for me. I've been very emotive on the beginning of my career, so many people are saying if you're not racing next year, then you're missing the party to say bye to your fans and so on. I could put a party on right here for the whole circuit and say bye, but I'm not taking that into consideration. I want so much to be racing next year that I'm devoted to that."

But what is especially galling for Barrichello is his record against his teammate this year.

Far from being the older guy who was going through the motions against a more inspired teammate, he outqualified Button by 10:8, and outscored him by 11 points to three. Jenson had only a sixth place in Spain to his name, while Rubens managed third at Silverstone, sixth at Monaco, and seventh in Canada - all races where bringing the car home in one piece paid dividends, and his vast experience showed.

To be fair the RA108's characteristics were especially alien to Button's driving style, but for whatever reasons, Jenson didn't avail himself of those chances when points were up for grabs.

The numbers may have favoured Barrichello, but that doesn't seem to have helped his cause very much. Someone in the camp dismissed his late season form with the explanation, "it's amazing what the lack of a contract does for your motivation," which seemed a little uncharitable...

There was never any doubt that Button would be the guy who stayed on, given a straight choice. He was there first of course, and the team has invested a lot in him over the years, financially and otherwise. And he's loved by Japan. He is also not yet 29, and thus still has a lot of career ahead, which even Barrichello would concede is not the case for him.

But should it come down to a choice between the two? It's a tough one, of course. Had Honda announced that both drivers would be staying after such a poor recent run, the team might be criticised for looking a little stale, and not bringing in new blood.

Perhaps Barrichello can't be too upset. Initially tempted on board by the long departed Gil de Ferran, he has enjoyed three lucrative years - allegedly on $10m a season. And if a team wants to try someone new, it cannot be held responsible if the decision happens to effectively end the departing driver's career.

Barrichello is happy with how his record compares with Jenson's: "We have been a match for the whole three years, basically. I consider him to be super fast, comparing myself to Michael, and comparing myself to him. He's very smooth and a very, very competitive driver. He's not as complete as Michael, but I think no one is, in a way. I think it's the only fight you have, people can see pretty much. I'm happy with that."

Neither man had much chance in 2008, given the equipment at their disposal. Honda has something of a tradition of starting badly but building up momentum as the car is developed, but that didn't happen this year.

Jenson Button and Rubens Barrichello battle the Force India of Adrian Sutil during the Japanese Grand Prix © LAT

"We were suffering from power, we were suffering from driveability," he says. "Those were the two issues that didn't help. The car was better in terms of the distribution of the weight, but it suffered from lack of straightline speed, too high a level of drag, and not enough downforce. So it was a bit of a compromise in all the areas, pretty much. It didn't use the tyres very well.

"To be honest with you when we started testing, we were so damn far back. It was a disastrous start. But there was an update kit that came just before Australia that they reckoned would be as much as a second faster. And when we did test that, it was a second faster. It felt great, and with another two or three kits to come, I thought this is going to be a high points score at the end of the year. Unfortunately the other two or three kits, they came, but they never did anything..."

The key was to take the chances when they came. Rubens has always been good in the wet, and that paid off with points in Monaco and Silverstone.

"In Monaco the situation was quite difficult on the first lap, and it was very difficult not to get carried away and just crash," recalls Barrichello. "I took care about it and just raced to the end. Unfortunately we misjudged [Sebastian] Vettel, because we should have picked up another position. But it felt great to finish sixth, and it was my first points after no points last year. So it was a big deal for the press, I guess! For me a year without points, nothing had ever matched that.

"Third at Silverstone was obviously the highlight. The decision on the tyres was quite obvious, as it was obvious when I stayed on slicks in Hockenheim in 2000. I must have a small gift on that, because luckily I put the right tyres at the right time. And it was actually difficult not to crash into people, because they were going so slow! It felt great. It was a helluva race, and it was a great achievement because it was a bad car, and we know it was.

"Heavy rain helped us, and Silverstone is probably the best track I've ever driven - I love that one - so it really came together."

In Canada he did the near impossible and hauled the RA108 into the top 10 in qualifying, before surviving a difficult race to take home a couple of points.

"That one I think experience showed," he says. "Why did I qualify in the top 10? It was only because people were overdriving on the top of that breaking-up asphalt. I just made no effort, it was actually saying to myself: 'Pace yourself, get back one step and just drive it.' And that's what I achieved."

Another potentially good finish was blown by a pit infringement in Australia. The other 'freaky' race this year was Singapore, where thanks to a good call from the pits, Barrichello was one of the few drivers who beat the pitlane closure at the first safety car. That put him on target for a podium finish, only for an unusual airbox fire to force his retirement: "Singapore was the big disappointment. The whole weekend we said whatever the conditions, we needed to beat the safety car into the pit lane if this happened or that happened. And it happened exactly like we needed.

"We made it into the pit stop with a couple of seconds clear, and we were looking great," he adds. "It was a difficult track to overtake, very bumpy. We were going to be third on the road, and so it was really sad to see the car stopping."

Rubens Barrichello celebrates his 3rd place in the British Grand Prix with his mechanics © LAT

Overall, Barrichello views 2008 as a positive season: "In life I understand that if you only enjoy it when you're actually winning, it's too bad, because at the end of the day you need to know that finishing 11th with a bad car is actually better than first with a good car. And that's how I see it. I think I had a good season.

"Shanghai was a helluva race. If we had a winning car we would have won the race by 20 seconds! I'm lacking a bit of modesty here, but it felt like that. It was a flat out race from the beginning, but only for 11th place! There was no hope for better.

"If it wasn't for some minor problems - like the traffic lights in Australia, and we should have scored in Barcelona, we should have scored in Singapore - I should have 20 points, and with the second to last car on the grid. So it must be pretty positive."

This year Barrichello was of course reunited with Ross Brawn, with whom he worked for five years at Ferrari. He was delighted when the Brit came on board.

"I related straight to him," he says. "The team lacked a technical leader. Honestly it was such a mess before, I didn't know when I should call this guy or that guy. It was a big problem. And with him, things are organised. But you need to be patient as well, because he's only one [man]. His hard work now is much harder than any time at Ferrari, I guess."

Barrichello hoped that his long relationship with Brawn would have helped his case for next season: "Knowing Ross for a long time, you'd think things would have been easier. But I don't know what's going on in their minds. All I know is that they need someone quick, experienced, because of the situation of next year. But more than that, very motivated to do it. I am motivated like hell. I am working so hard to show them how motivated I am.

"They're taking their time, they're going to test people, and then they're going to take a decision. I hope they don't change destiny, because Honda needs to win quite soon. And I'm on that, I'm sure if you give me an OK car I can do a much better job than an OK job."

A major frustration this year was the team's decision to give up on the RA108 and focus on next year. It was a logical move in many ways, but not much help to Barrichello if he doesn't get the chance to reap the benefits.

"That's what I mean," he says. "After all the hard work, I deserve to be in a better car. Especially because I don't think they had a problem this year with the speed of the drivers. What they do have a problem with is the speed of the car. So I think they need to concentrate on that, and forget about the rest...

Rubens Barrichello with Jock Clear and Ross Brawn © XPB

"I'm showing the team that I'm extra motivated to do anything. If one of the problems is losing weight because of the KERS being so heavy, I'll be on the ball on Monday trying to lose 5kgs in two months. It's going to be hard work, but I'm showing them I'm going to be prepared.

"There's no secret on the fact that I'm talking to Toro Rosso as well. There's some opportunities there as well, and they need money. I'm talking to all the people. And I'm making myself clear, I want to be racing, I'm not making a step backwards, because the two teams I can race for have great prospects of doing well. I think an Adrian Newey car with the new rules can be quite good, as can a Honda car that's the very first car of Ross. I just hope I'm on the grid next year.

"I have the feeling that I will be."