virgivaughn: Rubens Barrichello’s F1 career

Rubens Barrichello’s F1 career is an original article from F1 Fanatic. If this article has been published anywhere other than F1 Fanatic it is an infringement of copyright.

Michael Schumacher will make his 300th appearance at an F1 race this weekend.

But one driver got there before him: his former team mate Rubens Barrichello. Ger Foley has a question about the driver whose F1 career ended with his 322nd start at home in Brazil last year:

As Rubens Barrichello has the most starts in F1, I would like to know how many countries has he raced in the world championship and also how many different circuits has he raced on in F1? Thanks
Ger Foley

Barrichello appeared in 326 races (making 322 starts) in 25 different countries as follows:

Country/ies	Grands Prix
Italy	33
Germany	31
Spain	25
Japan	21
Great Britain	20
Australia, Brazil, Hungary, Monaco	19
Canada	18
Belgium	17
France	16
Malaysia	13
China, United States	8
Austria, Bahrain, Turkey	7
Argentina, Portugal, Singapore	4
Abu Dhabi	3
South Korea	2
South Africa, India	1

Barrichello began his F1 career in the 1993 South African Grand Prix at Kyalami – a venue F1 has not returned to since.

He made the most starts in countries which have held multiple races in a season. First among which is Italy, which had the Italian and San Marino Grands Prix (the latter held at Imola in Italy) until 2006.

Note that Barrichello failed to start on four occasions:

1994 San Marino Grand Prix – did not qualify (injured)
1998 Belgian Grand Prix – did not start (crashed in initial start before race was aborted)
2002 Spanish Grand Prix – did not start
2002 French Grand Prix – did not start

Here are the circuits he raced on, including the six tracks he visited in all 19 of his F1 seasons:

Circuit/s	Grands Prix
Interlagos, Silverstone, Hungaroring, Monza, Monte-Carlo, Circuit de Catalunya	19
Circuit Gilles Villeneuve	18
Spa-Francorchamps, Suzuka	17
Albert Park, Magny-Cours, Hockenheimring	16
Nurburgring	15
Imola	14
Sepang International Circuit	13
Shanghai International Circuit, Indianapolis	8
A1-Ring, Bahrain International Circuit, Istanbul Park	7
Buenos Aires, Valencia, Estoril, Singapore	4
Yas Marina, Adelaide	3
Jerez, Fujia, Korea International Circuit, TI Aida	2
Donington Park	1
Buddh International Circuit	1
Kyalami	1

Monza was Barrichello’s most successful circuit. He won there three times in 2002, 2004 and his final F1 victory for Brawn in 2009.

But he seldom enjoyed much luck at his home race. He retired nine times in a row at Interlagos from 1994 to 2003 – on the latter occasion he ran out of fuel while leading. His best result, third, followed in 2004, and was the only time he stood on the podium in front of his home crowd.

For comparison, here’s how the F1 calendar looked in Barrichello’s first and last seasons in F1:

1993 F1 calendar

Round	Grand Prix	Circuit
1	South Africa	Kyalami
2	Brazil	Interlagos
3	Europe	Donington
4	San Marino	Imola
5	Spain	Circuit de Catalunya
6	Monaco	Monte Carlo
7	Canada	Montreal
8	France	Magny-Cours
9	Great Britain	Silverstone
10	Germany	Hockenheim
11	Hungary	Hungaroring
12	Belgium	Spa-Francorchamps
13	Italy	Monza
14	Portugal	Estoril
15	Japan	Suzuka
16	Australia	Adelaide

2011 F1 calendar

Round	Grand Prix	Circuit
1	Australia	Albert Park
2	Malaysia	Sepang International Circuit
3	China	Shanghai International Circuit
4	Turkey	Istanbul Park
5	Spain	Circuit de Catalunya
6	Monaco	Monte Carlo
7	Canada	Circuit Gilles Villeneuve
8	Europe	Valencia
9	Great Britain	Silverstone
10	Germany	Nurburgring
11	Hungary	Hungaroring
12	Belgium	Spa-Francorchamps
13	Italy	Monza
14	Singapore	Singapore
15	Japan	Suzuka
16	Korea	Korea International Circuit
17	India	Buddh International Circuit
18	Abu Dhabi	Yas Marina
19	Brazil	Interlagos

NB. The Bahrain Grand Prix at Bahrain International Circuit was cancelled.

Since leaving F1 Barrichello has made a new home in IndyCar, where he has had to get used to circuits which are bumpier than F1′s and generally have much less run-off. He scored his best result to date with fourth at the Sonoma road course on Sunday.

See here for more statistics and details on Rubens Barrichello’s career:

Rubens Barrichello biography

And if you consider yourself an expert on him have a go at the F1 Fanatic Rubens Barrichello quiz:

F1 Fanatic Rubens Barrichello quiz

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Rubens Barrichello’s F1 career is an original article from F1 Fanatic. If this article has been published anywhere other than F1 Fanatic it is an infringement of copyright.