Welcome to Rubens Barrichello

By Phil Huff
January 4 2006

Rubens Barrichello joined the Honda Racing F1 Team yesterday, and is due to get his first taste of Honda's F1 effort next week in Jerez.

Barrichello will bring valuable knowledge to the team, not least how a championship winning team operates, its procedures, and so on. IT also helps that he's a fast driver.

"Rubens is a great driver and will push Jenson very hard – and the other way around," Honda Racing F1's Nick Fry told The People. "They will work together for the good of the team but they will also be battling very hard against each other.

"[They] are constantly battling each other for who is the fittest," continued Fry. "Neither of them have stopped since the end of the season. They are going to be great team-mates and they are striving to be in a great position at the start of the season."

Despite running on 100 races, Jenson Button has yet to win a race, although it's worth pointing out that, in the same time frame, none of his team mates has managed the feat either. Rubens' coming to the team may just be the extra push that the Briton needs.

"I am absolutely convinced that we have yet to see the best of Jenson," explains Fry. "He is a superb driver as it is at the moment. But people forget that he is still only 25 years old. Michael Schumacher is 10 years older and arguably the best driver in the world. So far I think Jenson has worked to about 80 percent of his ability, but I think Rubens will push that last bit out of him."

With good testing form to date, two fast and reliable drivers, and the full force of Honda, perhaps 2006 is the year that will really mark the arrival of Honda's third generation of Formula One.