Hill: F1 will miss Barrichello

Wed, 18 Jan 09:21:00 2012

Damon Hill believes that Formula 1 will miss Rubens Barrichello if the Brazilian does not return to the grid after missing out on the Williams seat.

Williams Formula One driver Rubens Barrichello of Brazil speaks to the media after his arrival at the paddock ahead of the Abu Dhabi F1 Grand Prix at the Yas Marina circuit in Abu Dhabi November 10, 2011 - 0

Barrichello turns 40 this year and although he has always maintained his desire to continue to race in F1, with only one seat left open at HRT it is unlikely that he will be on the grid in 2012.

Former rival Hill, who raced against Barrichello for seven seasons in F1, believes that he was a big part of the grand prix scene.

"There are a limited number of characters in F1 and Rubens has been thoroughly a positive character," Hill told AUTOSPORT. "People like and respect Rubens and his abilities.

"He has had an incredibly long career and that is worth a lot - he's the most experienced F1 driver ever so people will miss him as a person and a driver."

Hill reckons that if Barrichello's F1 career is over, it will be difficult for him to adjust to no longer being a grand prix driver.

Barrichello has raced in F1 full-time since 1993 and Hill pointed out that there are few other categories that can offer the same feeling as racing at the top level.

"It's a really difficult thing for drivers to give up, or to be forced to give up, something they really love and that is their way of life," said Hill, who retired at the end of 1999.

"You know as a driver that some day it's going to happen and that you will have to stop. The shame is that there is nowhere to go next for a driver.

"You could go to DTM, but nothing is the same as F1 and there's no gradual climbdown from it.

"When you've been doing it as long as Rubens has, when March comes around, it's going to be a shock to the system."

Barrichello has yet to make clear his plans for 2012, although he did wish Bruno Senna, who landed the Williams seat, good luck and say that "the future is wide open" on Twitter.

AutoSport

Comment 22 - 41 of 41

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  1. Comment hidden due to its low rating. Show

    @ Roz L Head over to the football pages. There is guy­ called Donney over there that wants to meet you.

    From kipketer1411, on Thu 19 Jan 16:23
  2. Comment hidden due to its low rating. Show

    about time

    move over. go and spend your millions you­ cry baby

    Hooray new talent coming through into­ F1

    give Senna a chance!

    From Bob H, on Thu 19 Jan 14:44

  3. Barrichello is one of the all time great drivers along­ with Buttom and Schumi, all that he needs is a car and­ a team to allow him to show his talent. He was denied­ this at Ferrarri when MS was the blue eyed boy, he­ showed what he was worth at Brawn alongside Button in­ an equal car. As I have always said about Button I will­ repeat for Reubens, give him the equipment and the team­ support and he will do the job. It will be a sad day­ when RB has to quit F1. Say no more.

    From mccollrob, on Thu 19 Jan 9:28

  4. Barrichello B.Senna

    From Scott, on Thu 19 Jan 9:20

  5. Still a better driver than some also rans on the grid­ despite a lack of victories and Senna will be a waste­ of time.

    From justblowinoffsteam., on Thu 19 Jan 6:28

  6. Rubens had a respectable career, some noteworthy drives­ (Hockenheim 2002), and enough race wins to distinguish­ himself from scores of also-rans. My guess is he­ might not depart as quickly as some might imagine. He­ could become the 2012 version of Nick Heidfeld.

    From victordinusa, on Thu 19 Jan 5:40

  7. senna is 28 and has achieved nothing. big mistake­ williams !!!! rubens still has podiums left in him or­ at least good point scoring ability,something i fear­ senna doesnt !!

    From dandare1799, on Thu 19 Jan 5:29

  8. @ Roz L: @#$%!!! Are u an english teacher or somethin??­ Stop these comments
    Rather write ones with sport­ opinions!!!

    From Abd Jaber, on Thu 19 Jan 4:25

  9. @Bill.K: at least David Coulthard had the guts in­ overtaking back in the old days
    While u can see clearly­ how rubens suffered in overtaking even when he was at­ Ferrari!!!

    From Abd Jaber, on Thu 19 Jan 4:20

  10. I was wishing that Ruben's would have got the drive­ for Williams this year as he is an underrated driver­ who does not get the chance of a good car under him,­ good luck to Senna but Rubens would have been a better­ partner than the other driver that as been picked, they­ will of course have made a mistake as this coming year­ of racing Ruben's would have given them a lot of­ feed back about there new car, but they have the purse­ strings so they call the shots, hopefully we have not­ seen the last of Ruben's

    From Fred, on Thu 19 Jan 4:13

  11. Sad day but what the hell life will go on for him same­ as everybody else has to get on with it I did and do­ hard some times but hey

    From big toby, on Thu 19 Jan 4:10
  12. Comment hidden due to its low rating. Show

    Will he be missed? Doubt it, he was the Brazillian­ Coulthard. All doormat, no titles.

    From Williams FW14B, on Thu 19 Jan 3:49

  13. Rubens is still faster than the Stig

    From PAUL J, on Thu 19 Jan 3:08

  14. @ 7
    you are wasting your time, mate....there is only­ one word for Ruben`s record in F1.....`PONY!`
    Brits­ don`t judge (Incredible I know!) a sportsman on his­ record, they judge him on how `nice` he is....they have­ been watching tripe like `Big Brother` too much.

    From Ifkimiwinsit, on Thu 19 Jan 2:40

  15. A very good driver - a great shame.

    From J, on Thu 19 Jan 1:52

  16. * f10ferrari

    It's you're not, NOT your not. ­ The word your does NOT mean you're, the contraction­ of 'you are'.

    From Roz L, on Thu 19 Jan 1:37

  17. A gentleman and a GREAT team mate, I'll miss him­ and wish him all the best. Hopefully Williams or­ Ferrari will let him race once this year so he can have­ the sending off he deserves, that would be a class act­ fof a class guy

    From Wabbit, on Thu 19 Jan 1:37
  18. Comment hidden due to its low rating. Show

    * stoney

    Should HAVE kept NOT should of kept, should­ HAVE been NOT should of been. Could HAVE, should­ HAVE, would Have, etc. Never should of, could of,­ would of, etc.

    From Roz L, on Thu 19 Jan 1:35

  19. Rubens should of kept the drive at williams, and­ maldonado should of been dropped, if senna is deemed to­ be that good a driver. Rubens is one of the great­ drivers that never won the championship. Formula 1­ without him, will not be the same. THANK YOU RUBENS­ FOR MANY GREAT SEASONS.

    From stoney, on Thu 19 Jan 1:02

  20. I've met Rubens on several occasions and he is a­ class guy. I will miss seeing him on the grid!

    From ?I declare war on your planet!?, on Thu 19 Jan 0:55
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