Barrichello on time alongside Schumacher: 'Had to accept a lot of things'

At a time when Michael Schumacher captured no less than five world titles in a row, teammate Rubens Barrichello had to make do with the crumbs left by the German. In an interview with the official Formula 1 website, the former driver has now opened up about his then Ferrari contract.

Teammate alongside Michael Schumacher

Rubens Barrichello drove for the Ferrari team from 2000 to 2005, getting Michael Schumacher as a teammate. Schumacher had been driving for the Italian team since 1996 and had been close to a world title with Ferrari several times before 2000. Barrichello acknowledged about this:"I always said he [Schumacher] was better, without a doubt. However, he had been with the team since 1996 and Jean Todt saw him as a son, that made it difficult for me as a new driver to come into the team and say, 'I want freedoms to race'."

The Brazilian also reveals some details about the contract he signed at the time. Schumacher was the team's undisputed first driver, Barrichello acted as an aide to Schumacher to the outside world. Barrichello argues that this second driver status was never contractually defined:"I told Ferrari I would not sign if the contract said I had to let Schumacher pass. In the end, there was nothing about that in the contract."

Barrichello accepted decisions for his own good

For example, Barrichello let Schumacher pass in the 2002 Austrian Grand Prix after a harsh team order. On this, the former driver says that during that period he accepted many things for his own good but, some things he refused. "Some decisions I accepted because I saw I was growing at Ferrari. For six years I saw that I was progressing and I thought my time would come," Barrichello said. However, the Brazilian's time did not come. Fellow countryman Felipe Massa took over his seat at Ferrari in 2006, Barrichello left for Honda's team.