Staff orders in F1
All through Formulation 1 historical past, there have been quite a few and infrequently controversial instances of crew orders, the place a crew instructs its driver to surrender their place in favor of their teammate. One of the vital criticized examples occurred close to the end line of the 2002 Austrian GP, when Rubens Barrichello slowed down simply meters from the road, handing victory to Michael Schumacher. The incident sparked widespread outrage, main Schumacher to carry Barrichello onto the highest step of the rostrum and hand him the winner’s trophy. Later that 12 months on the US GP, Schumacher returned the favor on monitor, with the 2 Ferrari drivers crossing the end line facet by facet.
Melbourne 2000
The connection between the 2 drivers was all the time quite chilly, with Barrichello constantly within the position of the second driver from his arrival at Maranello till 2005. This era noticed Ferrari safe 5 consecutive Constructors’ titles and Schumacher win 5 straight Drivers’ Championships. Few folks, nonetheless, had been conscious—till Rubens’ current feedback on the *Past the Grid* podcast—that the crew’s first instruction to remain behind Schumacher got here throughout the 2000 Australian Grand Prix, his very first race with Ferrari after leaving Stewart.
The race ended with a Ferrari one-two end, which Rubens Barrichello recalled whereas reflecting on his time at Maranello:
“The toughest half was off the monitor as a result of there was a lot extra work,” he started, referring to his transition to Ferrari. “There have been much more media, much more journey. There have been paperwork saying, ‘You possibly can say this, you’ll be able to’t say that.’ Individuals had been watching, however each time I sat within the automobile, I felt the pleasure and gratitude of driving a extremely good automobile, and that made all of it worthwhile. Take Australia, the primary race. I used to be in P2, however throughout that race, I used to be closing in on Michael. That’s once I heard for the primary time on the radio that I needed to decrease the engine revs or one thing like that. You see, I used to be ready for this, however the actual stress for me was when my father, after work, would come to me and say, ‘Son, we don’t have cash to go to this go-kart race.’ That was stress. These robust moments ready me for when everybody was watching.” – he identified.
His years with Ferrari and Michael Schumacher
Moreover, Rubens Barrichello mirrored on the difficult relationship behind the scenes at Ferrari, regardless of his gratitude for the alternatives he had throughout his profession. He additionally shared his ideas on his expertise in comparison with Michael Schumacher’s:
“Would I’ve carried out something otherwise in my profession? Positive, we would have made some adjustments alongside the way in which, however I’m grateful for all the pieces that occurred, even the robust moments at Ferrari,” he concluded. “I’d spend an hour with Ross Brawn and Jean Todt saying, ‘Hear, this isn’t the way it needs to be carried out, and so forth.’ Now, I typically see folks solely speaking to the press. I used to be advantageous with the press, however I had robust conversations with them as a result of, guys, you need to let me be myself. Was Schumacher higher than me? I feel he was. However was it 51-49? 70-30? I don’t know. We’ll by no means know as a result of it wasn’t a state of affairs the place you may be utterly free.” – the Brazilian concluded.
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