Rubens "Rubinho" Gonçalves Barrichello (born 23 May 1972) is a Brazilian professional racing driver who competed in Formula One between and.
He scored 11 Grand Prix wins and 68 podiums.
As of 2023, he competes full-time in the Brazilian Stock Car Pro Series, driving the No. 111 Toyota Corolla E210 for Full Time Sports.
Following stints with the Jordan and Stewart teams, Barrichello drove for Ferrari from to as Michael Schumacher's teammate, finishing as championship runner-up in and, and third in , while contributing to five constructors' titles for the team.
1990
Barrichello won five karting titles in Brazil before going to Europe to race in the Formula Vauxhall Lotus series in 1990.
In his first year, he won the championship, a feat he replicated the following year in the British Formula 3 Championship, beating David Coulthard.
He very nearly joined Formula One, the highest category of single seater racing, at just 19 years of age.
Instead he competed in Formula 3000 in 1992.
1993
He finished third in the championship, and joined the Jordan Formula One team for the 1993 Formula One season.
During this time, and also early in his Formula One career, Barrichello lived in Cambridge, Cambridgeshire, UK.
His Jordan's reliability in 1993 was poor, and he finished few races.
Barrichello regularly outpaced his more experienced teammates, Ivan Capelli and Thierry Boutsen.
In the, he almost scored his first Grand Prix point (and the team's first that year) but Michael Andretti passed him on the final lap for the sixth and final points-scoring position.
His only points finish of the season came at the with fifth place, ahead of his new teammate Eddie Irvine.
1994
During the season, Barrichello scored a second-place finish in Montreal, but the Jordan cars were less reliable than in 1994 mostly because Jordan took over the works Peugeot engine contract from the McLaren team.
2005
At the end of 2005 Barrichello left Ferrari to drive for Honda.
2009
In 2009, he finished third in the Drivers' Championship for Brawn GP, as his teammate Jenson Button won the driver's championship, and the team won the constructors' title.
2010
He was also appointed chairman of the Grand Prix Drivers' Association in 2010.
2012
After two years with the Williams F1 team, Barrichello moved to the IndyCar Series in 2012 with KV Racing Technology.
In Barrichello's third race, the, he started from 12th place in very wet conditions but was fourth by the end of the first lap.
He ran as high as second and was running third, having passed the Williams of Damon Hill and Alain Prost, before encountering a fuel pressure problem.
2013
After only one year and being unable to find a ride for the 2013 season, he moved back to Brazil to participate in the Stock Car Series, winning the championship in 2014 and 2022.
From 2013 until 2014 he covered F1 race weekends for Brazil's TV Globo, interviewing drivers and team members on the grid and commentating during qualifying and race coverage.
He later left to co-host and star in the YouTube channel Acelerados.
The paternal side of his family comes from Veneto, Italy (from the town of Riese, in the province of Treviso).
His maternal side of the family is of Portuguese origin.
Both his father and paternal grandfather are also named Rubens, and Barrichello shares his father's birthday: 23 May.
Therefore, Rubens Barrichello was known as Rubinho (Portuguese for "little Rubens"), which has become his nickname.
2018
These 2 points put him in 18th place in the standings.
started with a fourth place in Brazil and a third place at Aida, which was his first podium finish.
These results put Barrichello in second place in the drivers' ranking, behind Michael Schumacher, who had won the two races.
However, at the, he suffered a violent crash during Friday practice, hitting the wall at the Variante Bassa and flipping the car.
The accident knocked him unconscious and threatened his life, with his tongue blocking his airway.
Barrichello credited the on-track work of Sid Watkins for saving his life.
The race weekend saw a succession of serious accidents, of which two were fatal: Roland Ratzenberger died during Saturday's qualifying session when he crashed his Simtek at the curva Villeneuve, while on Sunday, during the race, Barrichello's mentor Ayrton Senna crashed his Williams at Tamburello and also died.
Barrichello was deeply affected by the deaths.
Later in the season, he took pole position at the, and led some laps at Estoril.
His pole position at Spa-Francorchamps set the record for the youngest driver to secure pole position at that time.
He concluded the season with fourth place in Adelaide.
He finished the season sixth overall in the Drivers' Championship with 19 points, outscoring Irvine, who scored six.
