Barrichello Eyes Title

[Led ZeppF1]

Rubens Barrichello believes he has his best chance ever of being crowned world champion this season.

Barrichello said ahead of the Malaysian GP: "I'm a believer who believes a dream can become reality."

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/moto...ne/3522310.stm

[Led ZeppF1]

Is his dream can will become reality? We have to wait and see.
But, nice to hear that Rubens seems didn't give up to reach his dream.

[spider]

I admire his optimism, but he's not Michael and won't beat MS over a season. RB may be 0.05 off of Michael now, but MS can just pull it out of the bag on demand, so poor RB will more than likely get defeated by the big man, again.

Good luck to the bloke though, I think he made a good decision staying at Ferrari - he learnt from Irvines mistake of leaving. He has status, respect, and will always have a car on the absolute pace! If he left and beat Michael people would say it's only because he had a superior car...

[Glen]

Actually, slim though his chances are, a year in which Ferrari are dominant (which is by no means a certainty this year - far too early to say that) is probably his best shot because I don't think they would make the 2002 mistake again, whatever they say. If neither driver has established a clear lead, and at the same time the gap to the other teams is decent, then they may well run with their stated strategy of letting them race without compromising the championships.

Of course there a lot of ifs in there already, and you have to combine those ifs with the biggest if of all which is if he can beat Michael - and I doubt that any current driver could rely on that.

[climb]

Actually Rubens' optimism sorta reminds me of DC's: every year the Brazilian says he's good chances, and, having MS set the record of WDC wins, this year there coudl be some hope for more democracy at Ferrari, but I still doubt that MS will concede him anything, as the OZ gp showed clearly.

[BootsOntheSide]

As in 2002, Rubens appears to be about 95% as fast as Michael, maybe even closer. The two main things which cost him the title in 2002 were a) his run of atrocious reliability and bad luck at the start of the season, and b) everyone's hunger for Michael to collect that all-important 6th title.

This year, could things be different? The Ferraris appear to be bulletproof, although Rubens' customary Brazillian retirement may still be to come, and perhaps #7 isn't as big a deal as #5. Besides, blatant 2002-style team orders can't come into play.

If Ferrari retain a dominant position in Malaysia (and I don't believe they will), and Rubens matches or beats Michael on pace as well as getting a result, he does have some chance. Otherwise, he'll have to wait until Michael retires, and even then it depends on him matching or bettering the replacement.

[Mattracer]

Dream on Rubens...

[f1atic]

Originally posted by climb
Actually Rubens' optimism sorta reminds me of DC's: every year the Brazilian says he's good chances, and, having MS set the record of WDC wins, this year there coudl be some hope for more democracy at Ferrari, but I still doubt that MS will concede him anything, as the OZ gp showed clearly.

One big difference though is that Rubens moves closer each year and David does not. Last season, Rubens out performed Michael in the second half mostly. I don't think he is the lap dog Michael's other teammates have been. Let's watch how things unfold.

[Mattracer]

But then McLaren doesn't have team orders from round 1 and Kimi isn't MS yet.

[Glen]

The gap between Kimi and DC is far larger than the one between the Ferrari drivers, in my opinion

[ElScOrChO]

Good luck Rubens! you deserve it!

[ralf fan]

I think if he gets the right support from Ferrari and consistency in lap times he can be a WDC.. RUBINHO is a supberbly fast driver who can beat anyone on his day.... Ferrari also seem to have the better car so Rubens 04 WDC is not THAT far fetched...

[Gt_R]

Why not? I believe RB has a far greater chance of being WDC than DC would ever have. RB's getting better, DC's stale.

And face it, in terms of overall all-rounded driver, RB is right up with JPM/Alonso/Kimi (don't laugh! ), while DC is almost a Panis - decent, quick, nothing more.

The greatest chance RB have is when the car is the best, simply because while RB is very close when the car's perfect, when the car's not perfect it is MS's talents and consistency that shines.

And also, with recent trends, Ferrari/BS characteristics are starting to be more suited to RB's style than MS, it'd possible if RB ups his game a bit more.

[Mr V]

Originally posted by Glen
If neither driver has established a clear lead, and at the same time the gap to the other teams is decent, then they may well run with their stated strategy of letting them race without compromising the championships.

Martin Brundle said the same sort of thing towards the end of the Oz GP. He believes that Rubens is allowed to race Michael, but that Michael will always be given the better bits, even, as he said, the engine with only 2 horsepower extra!

[krt917]

Originally posted by Gt_R
And face it, in terms of overall all-rounded driver, RB is right up with JPM/Alonso/Kimi (don't laugh! ), while DC is almost a Panis - decent, quick, nothing more.

It may be true now, but I think that over his career DC has performed pretty well and, as yet, JPM, Alonso and Kimi have a fair way to go to prove themselves over a whole career, though I have little doubt that they will do so. At his best DC was better than Rubens, but RB has got better and better as Schuey's team-mate, so is probably now a better bet.

Originally posted by Gt_R
The greatest chance RB have is when the car is the best, simply because while RB is very close when the car's perfect, when the car's not perfect it is MS's talents and consistency that shines.

I agree!

It would be interesting to see what would happen if Schuey were to have a copule of poor finishes/retirements and Rubens were to get ahead. Schuey seems to be enjoying himself so much that it wouldn't surprise me if he then assisted Rubens in such a situation. Of course, there are a lot of ifs in there again...

[GP Racer]

Here's a point that was brought up once before:

If this season becomes another 2002, and Ferrari is running away with the title, let RB really have a go at Michael! Let em race! Michael has broken the big record, #6, and although there are others he would like, its time to really let these guys go at it, no more team orders!

At the IRL opener, Penske teamates, Hornish and Castroneves, were running 1-2, for quite a number of laps. With 2 to go, Hornish made a beautiful and daring move to pass Helio and take the win. Great racing, the way its supposed to be!

[Scootch]

Poor old Rubie, you gotta buy him a beer haven't you? To stand up and say that in public, knowing that 95% of motorsport fans are tittering and saying "yeah right love"....his only chance of winning is if we have another Silverstone and MS gets injured and is out for months, leaving Rubie to "do an Irvine" and have a shot at the title.

[Rafael]

It would be a nice fight for the title between Michael and Rubens, but with a previsible end.