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Barrichello not keen on secondary role at Brawn
May 13, 2009, Wednesday
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RUBENS Barrichello told Ross Brawn he would quit and "go home" if the team favored teammate Jenson Button at the Spanish Grand Prix.
In an interview with a Brazilian radio station just before leaving the track on Sunday, Barrichello said he met with Brawn GP's owner and made it clear he would not accept being relegated to a secondary role.
"I got to the pits and I told Ross Brawn that if he did anything to let Jenson win the race, I would hang up my boots and go home," Barrichello told Radio Jovem Pan. "I don't need this, I'm better than this."
Barrichello said the team owed him an explanation for a change in strategy that apparently cost him the race in favor of the Briton.
"Brawn was clear," Barrichello said. "He said Button's victory was a coincidence." Barrichello, who spent much of his career in a supporting role to Michael Schumacher at Ferrari, was leading the race ahead of Button when the team changed the Briton's strategy from a three pits stops to two. The team did not change the Brazilian's strategy and he was eventually overtaken by Button and finished second.
Brawn said the team changed Button's strategy to keep him ahead of the rest of the pack, not to overhaul Barrichello. "I don't know if that makes sense or not," Barrichello said. "But the race was mine. I started ahead and had more fuel, there is no way I could lose."
Barrichello - Formula 1's most experienced driver with 276 race starts - said there is no way to know for sure whether Brawn was being honest with him.
"The fact is that I left Ferrari because of that," the 36-year-old Barrichello said. "My family created me as an honest person and I'm proud of that. If I had to do anything outside the rules to win, I would rather not do it. I would finish second."
The second-place finish at the Circuit de Catalunya left Barrichello further behind Button in the drivers' standings. The British driver has won four of the first five races.
In an interview with a Brazilian radio station just before leaving the track on Sunday, Barrichello said he met with Brawn GP's owner and made it clear he would not accept being relegated to a secondary role.
"I got to the pits and I told Ross Brawn that if he did anything to let Jenson win the race, I would hang up my boots and go home," Barrichello told Radio Jovem Pan. "I don't need this, I'm better than this."
Barrichello said the team owed him an explanation for a change in strategy that apparently cost him the race in favor of the Briton.
"Brawn was clear," Barrichello said. "He said Button's victory was a coincidence." Barrichello, who spent much of his career in a supporting role to Michael Schumacher at Ferrari, was leading the race ahead of Button when the team changed the Briton's strategy from a three pits stops to two. The team did not change the Brazilian's strategy and he was eventually overtaken by Button and finished second.
Brawn said the team changed Button's strategy to keep him ahead of the rest of the pack, not to overhaul Barrichello. "I don't know if that makes sense or not," Barrichello said. "But the race was mine. I started ahead and had more fuel, there is no way I could lose."
Barrichello - Formula 1's most experienced driver with 276 race starts - said there is no way to know for sure whether Brawn was being honest with him.
"The fact is that I left Ferrari because of that," the 36-year-old Barrichello said. "My family created me as an honest person and I'm proud of that. If I had to do anything outside the rules to win, I would rather not do it. I would finish second."
The second-place finish at the Circuit de Catalunya left Barrichello further behind Button in the drivers' standings. The British driver has won four of the first five races.
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