Rubens Suffers Yet Again

Rubens Suffers Yet Again

DCX

Barrichello was suffering from some mechanical problems at the start of the weekend but it was believed that Ferrari had sorted out these problems for qualifying and the race. Rubens had a lackluster first round of  qualifying as he could only manage 11th, about a second of the fastest man, Kimi Raikkonen in a McLaren Mercedes. The second qualifying session went better for the Brazilian and he was able to move up to a 9th place starting position.

Then the race came, Barrichello's start was about as lackluster as his first round of qualifying and he wasn't able to make any paces. Rubens continued to lap the Imola circuit alongside his fellow midfield runners until his pit stop on lap18. This would be his one and only pit stop as he came back into the pits to retire the very next lap. Electrical failure and yet another DNF for Rubens.

Barrichello was obviously bitterly disappointed and this is what the Brazilians had to say after the premature end to his race:

“My car had an electrical problem, but at the moment we don’t know the cause. It’s a great shame as I knew my car would be very quick, particularly on used tyres and we have made a huge improvement since the last race, but I never got to the point in the race when my tyres would have been at their best. We still have to look at our reliability as it has not been so good recently. On the positive side, the F2005 is very good and was really quick even with a lot of fuel on board.”

Rubens is now tied for 7th place with McLaren's "tennis" injured Juan Pablo Montoya with 8 points from his second place in Australia. Let's just hope Ferrari can fix Rubens' woes and he can start to put in some finishes similar to those of his teammate.

April 24, 2005