Rubens Barrichello

Rubens Barrichello has had the misfortune of being the supporting act for far too long in his F1 career. Whether it was his stint at Ferrari, where he was saddled with the daunting task of partnering Michael Schumacher, or the brief year with Brawn GP, where he publicly complained that he was being made to play second fiddle to Jenson Button. But as ‘Rubinho’ enters his 18th year in Formula One, he could very well find himself the number one driver for the Williams team. He might only be partnering a rookie, but that doesn’t take anything away from the fact that he still is one of the safest bets on the grid, something that has not gone unnoticed by Sir Frank Williams.

Barrichello might have had to wait eight long years for his first victory in the sport which came when he piloted his Ferrari to success in the stormy German GP of 2000. But that doesn’t change the fact that victory was really not possible in the preceding years when he raced for the Jordan and Stewart teams. What is unfortunate is that whenever he’s had a competitive car since then, he’s also had a quicker teammate who invariably was in the running to be world champion. The 2009 season - where he played a supporting role to Jenson Button - is the most recent case in point.

But the Brazilian driver, like a fine wine, seems to have gotten better with age, and there’s still some fight left in this bottle.