32 replies to this topic

[merlyn6]

Are the steps to help an old timer get in and out of the car?

[Dolph]

Originally posted by merlyn6
Are the steps to help an old timer get in and out of the car?

I don't know Marlen7, why do you ask?

[morgoth bauglir]

If he needed steps and was an old-timer, he probably wouldn't be racing anymore but enjoy his life with his family and lead a calm life, would he? But he still loves his job and is quite competetive. Respect for that.

[merlyn6]

I have tremendous respect for Rubens, it was a joke.

I'm 74 and still race a Formula B car reasonably successfully, sometimes I'm a bit creaky getting out of it though ;)

[Arska]

I'd say Rubinho was more competitive over a career than Riccardo, he's a worthy replacement.

[berto]

Well, the brazilians are making me sad, press mainly... The man managed to be an icon in his own path, struggling at times but still there fighting and we get no special report, nothing only sour stuff about the difference between his account of races and the "official"... Nothing at all...

I'm very happy for Rubens and i really would enjoy if he does stick to 300 like he said these days... I mean, Nigel drove F1 into his 40ties... why not? It gives a different flavor to kiddos F1!

[Dudley]

Nice to see them trialling the livery for when he actually has that many starts.

[Jhope]

So we're now disputing that Imola 1994 should not be counted?

[Dudley]

Originally posted by Jhope
So we're now disputing that Imola 1994 should not be counted?

There's no dispute that Imola 1994 shouldn't be counted, clearly it shouldn't, he didn't even qualify, much less race although Honda have decided he did.

There's other races that really are a debate.

[Jhope]

Care to explain which other races are disputable?

[amardeep]

See http://www.grandprix...ns/ns20290.html including,

... Swiss journalist Jacques Deschenaux. He argues that Barrichello has entered 257 Grands Prix but has started only 254 because in Imola in 1994 he was injured in a crash in qualifying, in Spain 2002 he suffered a mechanical failure during the grid formation laps and in French the same year he retired with a mechanical problsm on the warming up lap. He argues that Monaco will be Barrichello's 256th start and Canada his record-breaking 257th.

Seems that since the definition is a bit fuzzy, Honda and Barrichello picked a race. Fair enough really.

[Apex]

So, how many race starts does Patrese have then? 256? Or does that number also include race weekends where he merely was present but did not start in the race itself?

[VoidNT]

Patrese has 257 presences and 256 starts (his only DNS was Argentina'79). Turkey is Barrichello's 258th presence, but only 255th start (3 DNS).

[Sean McC]

Yeah, retirements on the formation lap shouldn't count as a 'start', so I agree with Deschenaux.

There was some discussion about Schumacher's race starts stat as well. I read that there was a conflict that he started 249 or 250 GPs due to his accident at Britain 99. Same goes for Lauda's Nürburgring accident.

[Triple H]

Originally posted by VoidNT
Patrese has 257 presences and 256 starts (his only DNS was Argentina'79). Turkey is Barrichello's 258th presence, but only 255th start (3 DNS).

What about Spa'98?
He didn't restart the race, so i think it's also a DNS.

[VoidNT]

Originally posted by Triple H
What about Spa'98?
He didn't restart the race, so i think it's also a DNS.

Yup, you're right. Those restarts made so much confusion. So it must be 254th start for Rubens.

At least we can be sure about presences, as it is a more correct measure of driver longevity.

[Dudley]

Indeed, and it is true he takes the record for most "weekends" this race, but that's 258 not 257.

[morgoth bauglir]

Originally posted by merlyn6
I have tremendous respect for Rubens, it was a joke.

I'm 74 and still race a Formula B car reasonably successfully, sometimes I'm a bit creaky getting out of it though ;)

Okay ,so I feel a bit sorry for my answer - I didn't realize that you were joking. But it sounded a bit like mockery ...


Well, to come back to Rubens :

So many things have changed since his arrival in F1, times were so different (slicks, engines were much more important, life for a driver was easier but less safe and so on)

Just think, when he came to F1 he even competed against Patrese himself, against stars like Prost, Senna and Mansell -all of them being at the end of their careers. He was always one of the youngest in the beginning of his F1 career joining in the age of 20.

Well, I recently found an article about him from 1995, I'll give the beginning :


INTERVIEW
Rubens Barrichello
JULY 1, 1995
BY JOE SAWARD
Rubens Barrichello doesn't look like a racing driver. He is short and rather tubby. He has sleepy eyes, a big nose and a huge lop-sided grin. Like most 22-year-old men his favorite film star is Julia Roberts and his ideal dinner date is Cindy Crawford. One can blithely write that Barrichello is young. He arrived in F1 at the age of 20, but the point doesn't really come across until you consider that when he arrived in Formula 1 was racing against 39-year-old "veteran" Riccardo Patrese. Riccardo began his F1 career on the day before Barrichello's fifth birthday...


And now he is nearly as old as Patrese was when Rubens joined...

[SeanValen]

The most experienced consistent inconsistent driver in f1 for all time.

[Maldwyn]

Originally posted by Arska
I'd say Rubinho was more competitive over a career than Riccardo, he's a worthy replacement.

Lucky for Rubens he didn't have to race some of the cars Riccardo had to contend with.

[Ross Stonefeld]

Patrese is most interesting to me, think of the car he started in and the ones he finished in.

From H-pattern Cosworth powered tube-framed cars with limited ground effects, to the 1992 Williams Renault.

I suppose he could have started in 1968 and gone until 1983 and had a slightly bigger change in the design of F1 cars, but he's certainly gone through more than Rubens. Has Barrichello ever even driven an F1 car without paddle shifts? The Jordan-Yamaha of 93 may have had a sequential stick, but that'd be it.

[frp]

Originally posted by Ross Stonefeld
Patrese is most interesting to me, think of the car he started in and the ones he finished in.

...tube-framed cars ...

The last spaceframe car in F1 Grands Prix was the Brabham BT26 or, at a push, the Ferrari 312B. Am I misinterpreting 'tube-framed'?

[berto]

Actually, 1993 Jordan's was a manual car with some sort of "chassis height" control in the suspension, but no active system. And had that dreadful Hart engine... I wonder how could Rubens charge from 14th to 4th in drenched Donington in his third race first lap... It was one of his big days

[Ross Stonefeld]

Originally posted by frp


The last spaceframe car in F1 Grands Prix was the Brabham BT26 or, at a push, the Ferrari 312B. Am I misinterpreting 'tube-framed'?

Sorry when I meant 'tube framed' I meant non-carbon.

[Dudley]

Also Riccardo's last F1 car was the 1993 Benetton of course, although that didn't have the tech of the 1992 Williams I suspect.

[MikeTekRacing]

Originally posted by VoidNT


Yup, you're right. Those restarts made so much confusion. So it must be 254th start for Rubens.

i keep reading this thread, the number keeps decreasing and i may end up beliving tomorrow is rubens's first ever f1 race


long career, he still has what it takes, he can fight jenson pretty well

[Dudley]

Originally posted by MikeTekRacing



i keep reading this thread, the number keeps decreasing and i may end up beliving tomorrow is rubens's first ever f1 race


long career, he still has what it takes, he can fight jenson pretty well

I think the new guy is quite promising.

[BlackCat]

now that teletubby has got his record, shouldn't Honda get rid of him asap? at first i thought that it would be a problem to find replacement - to put Wurz in the car would be as stupid as to continue with Rubens. and i still think that letting Klien go was a mistake for Honda. now i'd say there is a brilliant move: get Danica. ok, let her finish Indy. give her June to adapt. but start with her from British GP on.

it does not take a genius to use Danica PR value. if Honda is still hurting for the money poured into B-team - Danica could bring in loads of sponsorship money. it really is a win-win situation. there would be no substantial difference in onroad position of the second Honda car. nobody would even expect her to finish in top 10. Honda could finally get some normal livery, thanks to sponsors. and so on.

i'd imagine that when both Honda cars (and Ross Brawn) are painted pink and labelled Tampax - if then Jenson voluntares to swap places with Legge immediately, even that could not hurt Honda in the long run.

[Ross Stonefeld]

Honda doesn't want or need the sponsorship, and winning gets you PR in F1, not gimmicks. Hamilton's press profile in the UK at the moment is next to nothing because he's not winning regularly.

[donald29]

I'd love to see him get 300

But only if Honda put together a competitive package. It pains me seeing him have to drive that pile of wank.

[berto]

Thinkin about Danica in F1 is delirious! Shes is almost 30 already, so as old as Rubens, nearly and never showed a glimpse of top form in any kind of openwheel where right and left turning was involved! I bet it would generate big interest to have a woman driving in f1 lapping 3-5 seconds slower than her teammate... It happened with Sarah Fisher when she drove a McLaren in Indianapolis some years ago, actually the gap was bigger, but she had short time on the track.. But its insane to sugest she should get Ruben's seat... Honda has two top drivers and just need a top car to charge for wins, they woulndt go for a below par driver to attract a few million bucks...

Maybe they would put Sato onboard in 2009, since he got big fans in Japan... But this year.. noooo

[speedmaster]

Rubens should be the driver next year. At least if Ross really has the power inside the team.
Let's just wait and see....;)

[speedmaster]

Originally posted by berto
Well, the brazilians are making me sad, press mainly... The man managed to be an icon in his own path, struggling at times but still there fighting and we get no special report, nothing only sour stuff about the difference between his account of races and the "official"... Nothing at all...

I'm very happy for Rubens and i really would enjoy if he does stick to 300 like he said these days... I mean, Nigel drove F1 into his 40ties... why not? It gives a different flavor to kiddos F1!