Germany: Rubens Barrichello Qualifying Q&A


By Phil Huff
July 12 2009

Rubens Barrichello followed his second place in the grid for the German Grand Prix with an appearance in front of the media. Answering just a few questions, thanks to Mark Webber rightly taking the attention for his maiden pole position, here's all he had to say...

Rubens, you are second on the grid but you look completely exhilarated. You loved that session, didn't you?

I did, I did. It was very, very nice and it is nice when you have the right tyres at the right moment. We all went on slicks but all came back as we saw (Felipe) Massa just going out into turn 12 and I think everybody just came back into the pits for the intermediates. I was on my timed lap when I decided that is not the right tyre, let's gamble a little bit more and I came in. I had no reply on the radio. It was really chaotic on the radio. There was a big confusion but then they were ready for me. I put the right tyres on and I was safe with the third place. It was a really nice session.

This is your 280th grand prix. In your 280 qualifying sessions have you ever known a crazier one than this? How does that rate?

I tell you I had some crazy ones in the past but it is always the more recent ones that count. We were just saying that it felt for a moment that I was not breathing for the whole session. We got out of the car now and all of a sudden we are just breathing again. You just wanted to make the right call but you needed some help as well. I called the team to see what they thought and they never came back to me in Q2. I think there was a problem on the radio but they could hear me as when I got to the pits the tyres were ready. It was a really good call at the time. My first lap in Q3 was actually fastest and I was hoping for the better. But I have got to be happy as we were outpaced by the Red Bulls the whole weekend. In fact, Lewis (Hamilton) was actually faster than us as well, it looked like it, so second for me is really good.

This is your best qualifying here as well and you have won here before from lower on the grid, so what are your feelings about tomorrow?

I hope that tomorrow is the experience that counts. You cannot say much. Tomorrow the prediction, they are saying, that the forecast is a bit worse than today. We didn't predict that it was going to rain this morning but then things became a little bit worse as qualifying came. If it is a tricky race like it was a tricky qualifying you just have to be there at the end and make no mistakes and try to win the race. Myself and Mark we are trying to get as many points as possible to discount some of the points that our team-mates have on us and it is all to play.

The hard tyres can be the key to the race tomorrow. How is your car with the hard tyres?

I don't think it's down to Bridgestone. No one ever expected it to be twelve degrees here and 18 or 16 degrees on the track. But it's the first time for me too that in the middle of a qualifying lap I'm actually weaving. That's very much the first time, you know, going from side-to-side on a qualifying lap. You just need the heat in the tyre.

You've driven almost 300 Grands Prix and you've got a smile on your face today like it's your first season in Formula One. What's your secret?

Man, I enjoy it more than I used to. I think in life you learn that a few bad vibes don't count any more, you just count good energy, good flow. I'm driving better than ever, I've always thought that. I'm sure Jenson had a fantastic beginning of the season and was driving brilliantly but I'm up to the task. I think the challenge is great and I just like that. I had two weeks at home, it was great to have the kids around. I had my wife there but I couldn't wait for the time that I came back here. It was just that. So I have another two or three years for myself.

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