I may carry on and break the 300 grands prix barrier, popular Brazilian insists, but Honda refuse to confirm whether he will still be with them in 2009...
After making his record-breaking Formula 1 start in the Turkish Grand Prix at the weekend, Rubens Barrichello has confessed he would like to carry on and make 300 appearances in the top flight - though Honda are remaining non-committal on his future with the squad.
The Brazilian broke Riccardo Patrese's long-held record of 256 grand prix starts in Istanbul on Sunday, and though the outcome of the race was ultimately disappointing - taking the chequered flag in a lowly 14th spot, three positions behind the sister RA108 of Jenson Button - Barrichello affirmed he had no intention of hanging up his helmet for awhile yet.
The 35-year-old made his debut in the uppermost echelon in the 1993 South African Grand Prix at Kyalami, since when he has tallied no fewer than nine F1 triumphs - all with Ferrari - 13 pole positions and 61 podium appearances over the course of an extraordinary career.
"I don't know if I will get to 300," he admitted to international news agency Reuters, "and I don't know if I can reach 300, but I will try because a friend of mine used to say that racing was in my blood and I really feel that. Honestly, it feels like I started yesterday."
Barrichello's team-mate at the Brackley-based outfit, Button, had joked prior to the race weekend that the man from São Paolo didn't 'look a day over 37', before adding effusively: "He has been on it this year. He has been doing a very good job.
"It is good to have a competitive team-mate and a very experienced team-mate as he is. We have got a very good team and a very good team atmosphere, and he is good to have alongside."
The number on Barrichello's car was changed to 257 in Istanbul to celebrate his special achievement, but Honda CEO Nick Fry was cagey when pressed as to how much longer 'Rubinho' - as he is affectionately nicknamed within the F1 paddock - would be staying with the Japanese concern. His current contract expires at the end of the 2008 campaign, and he has not now scored a point in the top flight since the end of 2006 - stretching back some 23 races - whilst in the same period Button has notched up nine.
Barrichello did finish seventh on the road in the season curtain-raiser at Melbourne this year, but was subsequently disqualified for having passed through a red light in the pit-lane during the grand prix.
"Rubens is very aware of the situation," Fry underlined, "and I don't think he would want it any other way. When I hired Rubens, in one conversation I made a mistake and complimented him on his experience. He said: 'I don't want to be experienced, I want to be fast'.
"Rubens wants to be fast and if he is fast, he'll be here next year. If he's not fast, he won't. It's as simple as that.
"I see no signs of Rubens wanting to retire whatsoever. He wants to carry on as long as he's enjoying it and as long as he's quick enough and at the moment he is.
"In common with most of the teams, we monitor the performance of the drivers on a race-by-race basis in lots of different respects. Over the last 18 months, although we haven't got anything like the results we would have liked to have got, he is nip-and-tuck with Jenson.
"After that many years of grand prix racing, to retain your enthusiasm and still be that quick is extremely impressive. He's a real person, not someone superficial or who tries to skim over things. You get it from the heart."
As to what the future holds, Fry added that it was early days yet, but insisted that any discussions would take place when the time was right.
"We haven't had any serious conversations with Rubens," the 51-year-old stressed. "We've discussed things but it's not a priority at the moment. As we get towards the summer and into the autumn, then we'll start talking in earnest.
"Because we've worked together now for two-and-a-half years and have extended his contract once, it can be renewed very easily. It's not going to be the subject of prolonged negotiation. Either we will both want to do it or we both won't.
"Once we've both decided one way or the other, it's probably about a three-day process."
