During a glittering Formula 1 career that for many years made him the most experienced driver ever, Rubens Barrichello enjoyed a special affinity for Monza.
Three of his 11 victories came in the Italian Grand Prix, making it statistically his most successful circuit. Of course, it helped that the Brazilian’s triumphs in 2002 and 2004 came while adorning the scarlet overalls of Ferrari.
Twenty years on from leading team-mate Michael Schumacher in a 1-2 aboard the all-conquering F2004, Barrichello will return to the track where he won his final Grand Prix for Brawn in 2009 when he races a Lamborghini Huracan GT3 in the International GT Open championship. But the location alone isn’t the only point of significance for the 52-year-old, who won his domestic Stock Car title for a second time in 2022.
What will elevate a welcome nostalgia hit for Barrichello into something rather more special is the team he is joining. Perhaps rejoining would be a better way of putting it. Because after 32 years, he will unite with Il Barone Rampante, the outfit he raced for during the 1992 International Formula 3000 championship.
Already a rising star with the British Formula 3 championship in his back pocket, Barrichello made an instant impression on his graduation to what was then F1’s main feeder category in 1992 aboard IBR’s unmistakable yellow and purple Reynard-Judd. Slotting seamlessly into the shoes of Alex Zanardi, who had challenged for the title as a rookie during the maiden campaign for Guiseppe Cipriani’s team in 1991, Barrichello was on the podium at the first time of asking at Silverstone by finishing runner-up to Jordi Gene’s Pacific Reynard.
It set the tone for an ultra-consistent season in which he began the year with three podium finishes from as many races. A mistake-free visit to Pau, a tall order for any newcomer, netted third place and was followed by finishing second to third-year team-mate Andrea Montermini in Barcelona. At that point he led the standings, although a run of victories for Luca Badoer’s monoshock-equipped Crypton Reynard ultimately took the title out of his grasp.
Barrichello finished second to Jordi Gene at Silverstone in 1992
Photo by: Motorsport Images
A mid-season change of engine to the Mader Cosworth used by Crypton did not herald the instant success hoped for, and Barrichello ended the season without a win – albeit an impressive third in the standings. Had he returned for 1993, it’s likely he…
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