http://f1.automoto365.com/news/f1/williams...-0-38365-1.html

The strong speculation surrounding the driver line up for the Williams Cosworth team in 2010 has now been confirmed with the announcement that Rubens Barrichello and Nico Hülkenberg will join the Grove based squad and work together next season.

"Rubens needs no introduction. He is not only the most experienced driver in Formula One, but a passionate and talented driver who fought hard for the drivers’ championship this year,” Sir Frank Williams said. "Nico Hülkenberg won the GP2 Championship this season as a rookie and has previously won the F3 Euroseries, Formula Masters, A1 GP and Formula BMW Germany.”

The two new drivers will not move to the team until the end of 2009 and until then, Nico Rosberg and Kazuki Nakajima will remain the team’s official drivers .
“ I would like to thank them for their contribution to the team," Williams added

Fantastic news!
Although we all knew it was going to happen, I'm still delighted!

Here's to Williams' first competitive driver line-up wince Rosberg and Webber!

Indeed

Next year is spicing up by the day!

That will take the team forward, I'd think.

Very good team for Hulkenberg to start his F1 career with. Rubens will bring a certain stability to the team and will no doubt be a big help to his rookie team mate.
I can´t see them improving on this years results though, so it´s going to be a tough year for them.

Stupid move my Rubens. He should do his best to stay at Brawn.

In the drivers maybe, but at least they are likely to have two drivers scoring in the constructors...

Thats a good pairing. An experienced veteren and a potential young gun. A step up IMO.

Will be nice to see two drivers at Williams. Also good to have an experienced driver sucj as Rubens at Williams, he will bring good technical understanding.

Good move by Williams, the experienced Rubens to guide rookie Hülkenberg.
Me thinks Willi Weber has set his boy up for a very good start of what I think could well be a great F1 career.

I don't think he was offerd a place at Brawn. He's done well this season, but I've got a feeling Rosberg may push Jensen a lot harder.

Probably one of the best driver pairings at Williams for, well, ages really. The experience of Barrichello and the emergence of new talent in the form of Hulkenberg makes Williams an interesting proposition for next season. Just hope the choice of Cosworth engines doesn't let them down.

He won't. Brawn won't let go of Button if they can help it, and they're scouting for a German driver per Mercedes' request.

Appears to be official now for definite, BBC and NobleF1's Twitter are reporting it.

Hope Nico does well!

Barrichello outclassed Button from Silverstone onwards once he had his brakes sorted, just as he did in the whole of 2008.

If that is true, then that's great news for Williams!

I soft of think that Ross Brawn - one of the most exceptional men in Formula 1 - knows a little more about driver selection than you though.

I view the signing of Rubens with a little trepidation. If the team can provide him with a car he feels comfortable with, he will be a good signing. However, if he can't get comfortable with it, I hope we don't hear him whining.

The Hulk certainly deserves to come into F1, and I'm glad Williams have signed another Nico who is potentially a top driver.

So Rubens toget to 300 Grands Prix? I think

Nico Hulenberg exciting young talent although I am worried because his main rival was Romain Grosjean and he's been dissapointing.

I think Jenson will beat Nico next season however.

GP2 does throw-up some anomalies though, look at who Hamilton's biggest rival was - Crashgate himself, and how Kobayashi performed in GP2 compared to F1.
I'm not too concerned about the potential of Williams drivers for next season.

I think it's a good move for Barrichello. I can see him and Sir Frank getting along famously.

If Barrichello out-classed Button, why did Button win the World Championship?

Anybody would have been better than Nakijima and as for Rosberg? I've never rated him personally. Looking forward to see how he matches up with Button.

Some details Rubens gave more info in a quick radio interview, today from Grove:

> the contract is a 1+1 years with options for both sides.
> he had talks w/ Williams several times along his 16 yr in F1.
> the contacts began in Spain [Valencia] and the contract was signed in the Spa GP weekend.
> he confirmed McLaren had talks w/ him, but it came too late.

And you don't think he tried to?

So McLaren came sniffing? What radio station was this interview on by the way?

An excellent decision by Sir Frank.

A super experienced driver who has shown he is still quick enough to take poles and win GPs, and the best prepared rookie since Lewis Hamilton.

Lets hope they get a decent car under them.

Something doesnt add up there. A couple of weeks ago he said there was still a chance of staying at Brawn.

Like... he was lying?

Williams used to make old driver a champion.

Best driver line-up since Ralf Schumacher and Juan Pablo Montoya.

+1 They all play the same game. If they have already signed, they say "nothing has been decided yet". If they haven't got a drive lined up, they say "I have a few options", in the hope something turns up.

Webber and Heidfeld were pretty damned good, but had poor machinery.

Also, the last race of next season will be Barrichello's 300th GP!

Let's hope he can make it to 400 gps

McLaren came sniffing around for Rubens but too late. Interesting in that case, I wonder what McLaren will decide to go for in the end. If they approached Rubens, then it shos they are not at all set on one individual driver.

It's a better line-up than this years because they no longer have a weak link as Nakajima was, but I'm not super excited about it, Rubens is probably on the start of the downwards curve towards the end of his career, and Hulk while a quick learner and a promising talent is unlikely to be top class already in his first year.

This is quite funny, since option means the right to be the first one to say "no". Option given to both sides doesn't bind at all.

Good news
Rubens has a chance to be the leading driver.
Now what remains is Williams to produce a competitive car.

Good news. I wish Rubens, Nico and Williams all the best.

Rubens gave an interview to Radio Jovem Pan here in Brazil just now already as a driver for Williams. The important points were:

Initiated contacts too early in the GP Barcelona

Signed in Spa

He said that during that time has spoken extensively with the team, traded e-mails

All the team hope that the cosworth engine is good, said the Toyota engine was not the best

Is very happy to finally ride for Sir Frank Williams

Wait a competitive car, said Williams started very well this year but after that lost income

He said they are working on the car of 2010 a long time.

Jenson Barichello
GB 6 3
Ger 5 6
Hun 7 10
Eur 7 1
Spa ret 7
Ita 2 1
Sin 5 6
jpn 8 7
Bra 5 8
Abu 3 4

In the last ten races, they both beat each other 5 times. Admittedly RB secured more points but it would be wrong to say that he was streets ahead of JB. Also, last time I checked the championship was across the whole season.

Perhaps there was a clause that said if Brawn came forward with a deal before the end of the season that he would stay there. It is normal for sports people to sign conditional contracts these days. That would explain why the announcement was made today.

Rubens said yesterday that he would be in F1 for at least two more years. The big winner here is Nico2, he will learn so much from Rubens.

They´re after an established #2. Rubens would have been ideal for them, but I´m glad he´s decided on Williams instead.

Radio Joven Pan, Felipe Motta which follows the F1 Circus worldwide.
http://jovempan.uol.com.br/esportes/formul...liams-178010,,0

This was the radio Emerson Fittipaldi's dad worked for.
The Baron Fittipaldi broadcasted the WDC of his own son.

Gee I'd have taken Heidfeld over Barichello, he drops his head in a middling car and gets grumps.

And that Rubens already worked with sam Michael before at Jordan [telemetry].

Of course McLaren wants to figure out its options. If Rubens were willing to race for a low pay, then if nothing else, it could at least be used for negotiating with Kimi (and others).

Barichello could easily be the WDC in 2010.

Yeah, seriously.

We all know how Williams have lined themselves up to be Mosley's favourite team. And now they've sealed the deal by going with Cosworth. Which won't surprise anyone if it's the best engine next year, once Mosley/Toad has forced all the others to dumb down to their level...

I would have been very annoyed with Rubens if he went to McLaren, he has only just started rebuilding his "lapdog" reputation in the last year or so so to go back to being a lapdog would have been undignified

O rly?



Who scored more points in the Brawn since Silverstone when it was no longer the best car?

are you been sarcastic or you really like the guy?


FANBOY
distorcing reality with numbers that oftenly doesn't represent how things really were. In Germany BrawnGP screwed Barrichello and benefited Button afterwards. In Hungary the spring drop ruined Rubens' weekend. In Singapore Barrichello was way better but Button got lucky with the SC and for been allowed to start with more fuel for imcompetently been out of Q3. In Brazil we all know again Button finish ahead due to lucky. Even in Abu Dhabi Barrichello was better if you consider he had a quite damaged front wing.
In raw speed terms Barrichello ALWAYS beated Button since Silverstone.
Even in the first half of the year, Barrichello with more fuel beated Button in some qualis. Barrichello is just faster than Button and that is it. BrawnGP will keep Button for marketing reasons.

If Barrichello went to Mclaren, the Woking team would have to boycott him in order to make sure Lewis would beat him easily as Rubens with an inferior car in Valencia beated the overated Hamilton.