Rubens - Ferrari Owners' Club

Rubens Out, Massa In
by Winston D'Arcy

3.8.05

Ferrari put an end yesterday to intense media speculation about next year's drivers by issuing the following announcement:

"Ferrari announces that it has taken up a renewable option in a contract that dates back to 2001, tying the driver Felipe Massa to the Scuderia. Therefore, the agreement means that Felipe will race for the team for the 2006 season.

Rubens Barrichello will leave the Scuderia at the end of the 2005 season, after a successful and rewarding collaboration that dates back to 2000 and has contributed, to date, to the winning of five Constructors’ World Championships."

Rubens began his F1 career racing for Jordan in 1993 and stayed with them for four seasons, moving to Stewart GP in 1997.

In 2000, he joined Ferrari, and despite initial fears that he would not be psychologically tough enough to withstand being in the same team as Michael Schumacher, he has given sterling service to the Scuderia.

It was clear from the start that he was no.2 to Michael Schumacher. He accepted the role with good grace and has been a supreme team player, even though he showed he was capable of beating him on occasion. However at Monaco this year he was furious when Schuey barged past him on the last lap; the chop at Indy can't have helped either.

It seems that, like his predecessor Eddie Irvine, he ultimately tired of playing second fiddle and wanted out - even though he had a year to run on his contract. It is widely expected that he will join BAR next season. Here's a brief summary of his Ferrari career (compared with Irvine), though there are still 6 races to go, of course.

	Barrichello	Irvine
Seasons	6 (2000-2005)	4 (1996-1999)
GPs	96	65
Poles	11	-
Wins	9	4
Points	405	156
Points per race	4.22	2.40
Best C/ship posn.	2nd (2004, 2002)	2nd (1999)

Rubens's successor is another Brazilian. Felipe Massa won the Formula Renault Italian and European Championships and the F3000 European Championship in 2001. He joined Sauber in 2002 but sat out 2003, becoming a Ferrari tester. He rejoined the Swiss team in 2003, continuing to test for Ferrari in 2004. During this period the Swiss team had very close links to Ferrari, using their engines (and sometimes gearboxes) and running on Bridgestone tyres. The arrangement ceased for '05, as Sauber switched to Michelin and increasingly distanced themselves from Ferrari.

Massa did have a reputation of being fast, but wild and over-energetic at the wheel, a trait he has eliminated this year. He has out-qualified his team mate, Jacques Villeneuve, on all but three occasions (though often not by much), and has scored eight points to Villeneuve's six. His best race results are two fourths. It's fair to say that the jury's still out on him - the current situation in F1 makes it almost impossible to spot new stella talent, but we wish him the best when he starts one of the most exclusive and enviable jobs in the world.

Interestingly, he is managed by Jean Todt's son, Nicholas - which must have made the contract negotiations fascinating. This is akin to another team, where the driver's manager is the team principal too. Wonder how that works?

I suspect that many tifosi would love to see the appointment of someone charismatic, like Valentino Rossi and, according to Gazzetta dello Sport, he took part in another test for Ferrari at Fiorano yesterday.

He is reported to have completed over 80 laps in an F2004, with a best time of 59.21, over three seconds slower than Schuey's lap record in the same tipo. It makes you wonder if his skills are transferrable, and if so, how long it would take him to come up to speed - it looks as though Ferrari and he intend to find out. Gives us an excuse to use another pic as well.

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