RUBENS Barrichello has opened up about his relationship with Michael Schumacher – nine years after the F1 legend’s tragic accident.
The Brazilian driver, 51, admitted that his former teammate “was better than me, no doubt”, but “never supportive”.
Barrichello became a fundamental part of a Ferrari dream team that dominated Formula 1 in the early 2000s.
“The car was super, the team worked well, it was a good relationship between everyone and there was harmony in terms of performance. We were able to go and conquer the world,” he told Formula1.com .
But while Schumacher conquered five successive world titles between 2000 and 2004, “Rubinho” was dutifully left to play second fiddle on several occasions.
“I always say he was better than me, no doubt,” he admitted.
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“But because he was already there from ’96, he had four years [in the team], he had gone through the injury, and obviously Jean Todt considered him like a son, so it was tough for someone new to come in and say ‘ok give me the freedom'”.
The driver remembers telling the Scuderia he would not sign the contract if he had to “let Michael go ahead”.
“I didn’t want to sign,” he said.
“My contract said nothing about that.
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“For my benefit I accepted so many things, there were many things I did not accept, but some I did because I saw I was growing there.
“For six years I saw I was going forward and my time was coming.”
Although Barrichello says he had a good relationship with the German ace, he felt Schumacher only raced for himself and was never a “supportive” teammate.
“I always made friends and I’ve always had a good relationship with all my teammates,” Barrichello told the Beyond the Grid podcast.
Asked if he included Schumacher on that list, he said: “I do.
“But he was never supportive.
“He was never there to offer help so I never asked.
“Michael was different, he was a bit naive in the way that he worked.
“So many times we’d finish a meeting and then they’d start another one with just Michael there so I’d took my chair and would just sit there.
“Eventually I felt that the team was his.”
During his time at Williams Racing, Barrichello once screamed that Schumacher “tried to kill him” and nearly “sending him to heaven” in a 200 mph horror move during the Hungarian Grand Prix.
Head-to-head and competing for a single point, Schumacher almost pushed his counterpart into the barrier.
“I am lucky to be alive. It was a go-kart manoeuvre,” Barrichello said in a furious response.
“If he wants to go to heaven, in the event he is going to heaven, I don’t want to go before him.
“Thank God, I was lucky the wall finished where it did because I was millimetres from it.”
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In 2013, three years after the dangerous Hungarian GP battle, Schumacher suffered a brain injury in a skiing accident and was put in a coma for six months.
Now, he resides in his Switzerland home away from the world as he continues to recover.
Source: Motorsport - thesun.co.uk
