Rubens Goncalves Barrichello or simply Rubens Barrichello is a professional motorsport driver from the South American nation of Brazil currently plying his trade for the Williams Formula One team in the Formula One circuit. Fans and critics are of the unanimous opinion that Rubens is one of the greatest Formula 1 drivers not to have ever won the drivers’ world championship in the prestigious sport. Barrichello was born on the 23rd of May, 1972 and he shares his birthday with his father who is also named Rubens, as well as his grandfather, Rubens, Sr. Before coming over to Europe to race in open wheel series, Rubens had already won a staggering 5 titles in the go karting championships in Brazil. He raced in Formula Vauxhall Lotus series in 1990 and in his very first season in the series, he won the championship and he repeated this feat again the following year as well at the British Formula Three Championship. He was close to joining the Formula 1 bandwagon at that time at the age of just 19 years but he thought that he was too young at the moment and opted for the Formula 3000 series in 1992.
Rubens Barrichello finished his first season at the Formula 3000 series at third position and he was called in to race in Formula 1 for the Jordan Formula One team for the 1993 season. As a youngster, Rubens idolized the legendary Brazilian driver Ayrton Senna and when he moved to Formula 1, Senna took the young Brazilian under his wing. The image of a shell shocked Rubens with tears rolling down his eyes at Senna’s funeral is one of the most touching images of that time, which was a very difficult period for Formula 1. Rubens Barrichello raced for the Jordan Formula One team for three years between 1993 and 1996 before he switched to join the Stewart Grand Prix racing team in 1997 and stayed with them till 1999. The following season, he made the leap to join the Ferrari team with the legendary Michael Schumacher and stayed with the Scuderia based outfit till the 2005 season. He joined Honda in 2006, staying till 2008 after which he raced alongside Jenson Button for Brawn GP in their title winning season. Since the start of the 2010 season, Rubens Barrichello has been racing for the Williams Formula One team with the #11 car.
