2011 end of term report – Rubens Barrichello

Rubens Barrichello endured a really tough time in 2011 and had one of the most disappointing seasons of his long career in Formula One. The Williams driver could score only four points and finished 17th in the drivers’ championship.
He now faces a nerve-racking winter as he is still without a drive for 2012.

Season review

In 2010, Rubens Barrichello took 10th in the standings and scored 47 points. He was hoping for more of the same in 2011 and extended his contract with the Williams F1 team. Unfortunately, the season turned into a disaster for the experienced Brazilian.

The start of the season set the trend with a collision and a retirement in Australia. He suffered another mechanical retirement in Malaysia. He scored his first points at Monaco and added two more units to his tally in Canada. This was the last time he managed to finish in the top ten.

In qualifying, he never made it through to Q3. His best starting position was 11th, in Turkey and at Monaco. He fought hard to score a 14th place finish in the season’s final, in front of his home crowd.

Conclusion

With four points, Rubens Barrichello finished the year in front of his rookie teammate. He was really consistent in 2011 and took the maximum out of his car. However, he was hoping for much more than that.

With 323 Grand Prix starts under his belts, the Brazilian brings a lot of experience with him and was outspoken several times this season. He sometimes criticized the teams’ technical approach and welcomed the restructuration implemented mid-season… with the departure of technical director Sam Michael and the hiring of Mike Coughlan.

Nonetheless, Barrichello may not benefit from these changes as he hasn’t been confirmed yet by the team. He has done all he could to convince the Grove-based team to retain his services and incessantly repeated he still had the motivation to compete in F1. This is why he refused to think of the Brazilian Grand Prix as the final race of his career.

Highs
—  19th season in F1
—  Still motivated
—  Valuable experience

Lows
—  Outshone by Maldonado in qualifying
—  Some disagreements with the team
—  Would do everything to stay in F1

Nextgen-Auto.com marks:
— Olivier Ferret : 12/20
— D.Thys : 13/20
— Sandrine Bouchard : 13/20
— Jean-Michel Setbon : 11/20
— Average mark on the forum Nextgen-Auto.com : 10/20
—  Total : 59/100