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| Born within a stone's throw of the Interlagos track, Barrichello was born into a motor racing family, and was given his first kart at the age of six. In 1986 he was crowned South American karting champion, and just a year later he finished ninth in the world championships, sponsored by Ayrton Senna. In 1989, aged 16, Barrichello graduated from karts to Formula Ford, before moving to England to pursue his dream to become an F1 driver. He claims he used his father's driving licence as he wasn't old enough to drive in the UK. He won the British Formula 3 championship in 1991, becoming the youngest racing driver to do so, a feat only beaten by Nelson Piquet Jnr in 2004. Barrichello made his F1 debut with Jordan in 1993, and finished on the podium just 13 months later at the Pacific Grand Prix in Japan. He finished sixth in his second season, but it was marred by the death of his friend and mentor Senna at Italian Grand Prix, while he himself escaped a horrific accident in qualifying for the same race. After three years at Jordan, Barrichello moved to Stewart Ford in 1997, where he scored three third-place finishes enough to secure him a move to Ferrari in 1999, where he was second driver to F1's most successful driver in history, Michael Schumacher. In 2000, after seven seasons in F1, Barrichello secured his first race victory at the German Grand Prix at Hockenheim. In 2007, aged 33, Barrichello moved to Honda, and endured the worst season of his career, failing to score a single point, but remarkably finishing all but two races. At the 2008 Turkish Grand Prix in May 2008, Barrichello became the sport's most experienced driver, overtaking Riccardo Patrese's record of 257 F1 starts. In 2009, the Honda team, rescued at the 11th hour by Barrichello's former Ferrari boss Ross Brawn, became the first team to win the constructors championship in their inaugural season, and Barrichello's six podiums and two race victories helped him to third-place in the drivers' standings. In November 2009 Williams announced that Barrichello would join their team for 2010 season alongside rookie driver Nico Hulkenberg. While Barrichello is the fourth-highest points scorer of all time, behind Schumacher, Alain Prost and Senna, the one race that still eludes him is the Brazilian Grand Prix in his home town of Sao Paolo. While Williams are unlikely to provide a car fast enough to see the veteran win his first world championship, a win in Interlagos would be a dream come true for one of the nicest men in motorsport. |
