Rubens: I won't tolerate team orders

[Dare]

Brawn said no team orders were in play butI
think just maybe they were and by the look on
Rueben's face so did he



Rubens: I won't tolerate team orders
Sunday 10th May 2009     Planet F1

Rubens Barrichello has threatened to quit Formula One if he senses team orders coming into play in his fight for the title with team-mate Jenson Button.

For the fourth time in five races this season, Button stood on the top step of the podium, spearheading a Brawn GP one-two at today's Spanish Grand Prix.

It was the ninth successive race a driver has won from pole at the Circuit de Catalunya in Barcelona, although this was no routine run from start to finish as in the past.

Instead, there was an undercurrent of discontent from Barrichello at the prospect Button had been favoured ahead of himself.

After being passed by third-on-the-grid Barrichello on the run down to the first corner, Button then spent the first 18 laps behind the Brazilian.

When he pitted, he had been informed by his team the lap previously that he was being switched from a three-stop to a two-stop strategy as boss Ross Brawn attempted to cover all bases.

There was no such call for veteran Barrichello, who remained on a three-stop plan, which cost him the victory.

Technical guru Brawn, who made the call to change Button's tactics, claims Barrichello lost out due to a third set of soft tyres that strangely lacked the pace of the previous two.

The 36-year-old Brazilian, though, was clearly sore at what had unfolded as he said: "I hope the guys come back and tell me there was a small problem somewhere.

"We were both on three stops, then they changed the strategy for him, which is good for him, and good for the team we were one and two, but I'd like to understand why we changed that (the strategy).

"We'll have a meeting, and then we'll have some answers."

In light of Barrichello's experiences at Ferrari where he was clearly a number two driver and forced to bow to team orders, Barrichello then definitively outlined his position.

"If I get a whiff of team orders I will hang up my helmet on the spot," asserted Barrichello.

"I'm very experienced and if that happens I won't follow any team orders any more. I'm making it clear now so everybody knows."

Despite the problems he endured at Ferrari, Barrichello maintains the culture within Brawn is far different.

"We've a much more friendly situation, so I'm not blaming this or that, and there's no way I'm going to cry and say I should have done this or that," insisted Barrichello.

"It's in my own best interests to learn what went wrong today because I have the ability to have won the race, but I didn't.

"Jenson is on a flier, is doing very well, and obviously there's a bit more pressure on my side because he has won four races and I've won nothing.

"But I'm there working, and I won't stop working because this is a great car.

"It was not that long ago people were putting flowers on my grave and saying thank you very much for the job I'd done.

"But I'm here, very much alive and happy, and I'm going to make it work as I did a few years ago, but in a more friendly atmosphere."

Button, and in particular Brawn, both fervently dismissed the idea team orders had come into play.

"We both work closely together within the team, and there's a very good atmosphere," insisted Button.

"We're all here to win - it went my way today, and it may go his (Barrichello) way in Monaco. That's the way it is.

"He had a problem on his stint, I didn't, I made it work and I won the race, but then it could swing around at the next one.

"That's the way we go racing, the way it should be, and the way it has been for most teams in Formula One.

"I don't ever want to go down that avenue of talking about that because it is so far from the situation within our team."

As for Brawn, when asked whether team orders had perhaps crossed Barrichello's mind, he replied: "I hope not because we're not (doing that).

"I think you saw at the first corner there are no team orders as Rubens made a great start to get past Jenson.

"I'd love to see Rubens win a race and his crew win a race because it would be great for the team.

"But there's no priority being given

[John S]

This report from Autosport sheds a bit more light on the Brawn strategy situation.

Barrichello suspects glitch slowed him

Rubens Barrichello said he suspected something might have broken on his car after being beaten to Spanish Grand Prix victory by his Brawn team-mate Jenson Button.

The Brazilian had led the first half of the race, but when Button switched from a three to a two-stop strategy, Barrichello was unable to pull out enough of a margin to stay ahead once he had made his additional stop.

"The race evolved quite well, I had a great start and went to the lead," said Barrichello.

"I was running a tiny bit quicker than Jenson to begin with and had two more laps of fuel, so it was running quite well. I heard they changed Jenson's strategy and I had to keep on pushing.

"My third set of tyres was not good, I don't know if something was broken on car. So I couldn't keep the pace up, and from then on it was a struggle to keep the car on the track and a relief to come second.

"I'm disappointed because I didn't win the race because I felt I had it in the bag today, but it's still great for the team."

He admitted that he had not expected the team to change Button's strategy at the first stops.

"I was a lap or two longer, and Jenson caught me up a little bit on the strategy because of the safety car, so I was quite happy because having a lap longer and being in front I was delighted, I had the race in my hands," said Barrichello.

"So I was actually quite surprised when they switched Jenson to two, but from then on I just had to go flat-out."

Barrichello added that he had pitted early at the end of the race due to traffic, even though by that time Button had switched to the unfavoured hard tyres and was losing time to him.

"I came in a lap or two earlier for my final pit stop because there were lots of cars and blue flags and I was losing time," said Barrichello.

By Jonathan Noble and Matt Beer, Autosport

[johnbull]

I can't say I blame Ross Brawn for changing Button's to a more favourable strategy, after all he is leading the championship and taking good wins.

On Rubens I think he should be thanking his lucky stars Ross gave him a drive at all, in what turned out to be the best car on the grid. He may be quicker than Jenson over the odd lap, but Button's race pace is like clockwork.

And Ross is oh so clever. You should have heard the Italian commentary when Ross juggled the strategy around to ensure his cars were 1st and 2nd to absolute perfection, and Ferrari couldn't even calculate Massa's fuel requirement.

[SennaMan]

 and neither should he. Methinks he was shafted by not getting a two stopper as well

[Dare]

I'm with you on this one Sennaman,Ruebems
paid his dues and shouldn't be treated like a dog
waiting for table scraps

[SennaMan]

I'm with you on this one Sennaman,Ruebems
paid his dues and shouldn't be treated like a dog
waiting for table scraps

thanks Dare - they also used RB's car settings on JB's car as they were clearly better.

And this after ruebens was on the pace all weekend until the last stint on the hard tyres.

Poor ole Barrichello will go down in F1 history as the perfect team mate; the ultimate #2 driver.

What a legacy! 

[Number 38]

Okay; all right; there ARE team orders;  "Rubens, you are ordered to win the next race."

[Scott]

I didn't see it that way.  Button was complaining that he was faster than Rubens and his engineer replied "Let's go to plan B", which was obviously the strategy change.  I'm not so sure Ross had a hand in it, and if Rubens engineer had opted for the same strategy, maybe he would have won. 

Nobody can really say if it was team orders or not, but Button was pounding out the fast laps, while Rubens was slipping back (Rubens engineer came on and told Rubens to give it more because they were falling behind Button).  Obviously everyone thought Rubens COULD have won it (I did too, but he needed to get a couple more seconds gap in his middle stint, which he SHOULD have been able to do on his lighter fuel load, but he didn't).  I don't give him any credit for the whine about blue flags and traffic - traffic was light and behaved well all race.

I'm with John Bull on this - Rubens should thank the lord Brawn that he has a drive this season, and be done with it.   

[John S]

Hear Hear Scotty, I think Jens suprised Rubens with his pace with a heavy fuel load after his first pit stop and caught him napping. I thought that beating your teamate is the first perogative and rates as high as a race win in most teams.

[Monty]

As I have said elsewhere, the facts are clear. Rubens remained on the original and theorectically quickest 3-stop strategy. Brawn did not want to change Button to the slower 2-stop strategy but they realised that without a change Jensen could end up stuck behind Rosberg.
For whatever reason Rubens was too slow on his last set of soft tyres (posting lap times almost 2 tenths slower than earlier stints). He had the favoured stategy and the team had given him every opportunity to win.
Even if his slow laps were because the car developed a fault or the tyre pressures were wrong he really had no reason to complain.