Chinese GP : Q & A Rubens Barrichello

Despite a frustrating start to the year in Australia and Malaysia, Rubens remains bullish about his chances in this weekend’s Chinese Grand Prix. This is what he had to say prior to the start of the on-track action in Shanghai.

What are your hopes for the weekend ahead?
RB: To have a clean weekend without any problems. I also think we can be competitive because we have some new parts to try here. If we can get them to work as we hope, and be reliable, I think a top six position in qualifying is possible. Even if we have to revert to the old layout, we’ll be looking at top 12 because the FW33 is a good car.

What effect has the team’s difficult start to the year had on you?
RB: It hasn’t been the dream start that we all wanted and it’s been hard not to be disappointed. But everyone’s working flat-out to turn the situation around and we’re hoping for a much brighter weekend here than we had in Malaysia.

What have you been up to since the Malaysian Grand Prix?
RB: I went to Thailand, which was fantastic. The weather was great and I bumped into a few people from the F1 paddock, like Christian Horner and David Coulthard. I played a bit of golf while I was there and I’ll be keeping a close eye on this weekend’s Malaysian Open. I’ve played at the club where the Open’s taking place, so I know what the guys will be going through.

You’ve won at the Shanghai International Circuit before. What are your memories of that day?
RB: My abiding memory is having a champagne shower with [Ferrari president] Mr Montezemolo on the podium! It was quite a tough race because everyone had a lot of graining on the front tyres, but I was able to hold on until the end.