Barrichello unlucky in Montreal

Rubens Barrichello has not had a great time of late in Formula One. After dominating the Austrian Grand Prix, he had to give way on the last lap to his privileged team-mate Michael Schumacher, causing a stir in Formula One not seen since Jerez in ...

Rubens Barrichello has not had a great time of late in Formula One. After dominating the Austrian Grand Prix, he had to give way on the last lap to his privileged team-mate Michael Schumacher, causing a stir in Formula One not seen since Jerez in 1997. Then at Monaco, he had a poor race running into a car which caused him to require a nose-cone change, then finished a lowly 7th and out of the points.

Rubens Barrichello.

Photo by Eric Gilbert.

Here in Montreal it has not been a lot better. On Friday he finished practice a lowly 8th. "Overall the car was going pretty well," he said. "I just have a few problems with the brakes in the second hour and have not yet found the right settings for them." Earlier in the day, between sessions, Barrichello was doing stretches near the team's motorhome in the paddock. When he went to enter the motorhome the door was locked. A cynic or joker would suggest Michael was inside the motorhome discussing the technical aspects of the car or strategy with the team, and Rubens was not invited. After struggling with the door for a few moments, someone inside finally unlocked it and let him in. Perhaps Michael had finished.

In Saturday practice Barrichello lost control of his car at corner nine, crashed into the wall and tore the front right wheel off his car. If that was not bad enough, when he walked through a fence to try to get back to the paddock, he emerged in a spectator area and was unsure where to go and whom to ask. While the crowd snapped pictures, Barrichello walked up onto the handicapped wheelchair viewing area, no doubt giving all the fans there a thrill. Reaching the end of that area, he found he had no where to go but to walk back through the area to return to where he started.

Finally a piece of luck came his way when an attendant on a motor scooter appeared, offered him a ride back to a bridge across the track, and into an area away from the spectators. Poor Rubens. When will some real decent fortune finally find him? Depsite the troubles towards the end of practice, he finished a reasonable 3rd in the session, though completing less laps than any other driver and being a quite large 0.848 seconds behind Michael Schumacher in the other Ferrari.