I don't get it. Didn't Rubens participate in his 300th GP in Hungary? Why wasn't it celebrated? Or do they go for 300 starts (probably in Singapore)?

When did he celebrate the braking of Patrese's record? After braking the number of participations or starts?

What's there to 'celebrate'? It should be a day of mourning for him: All those starts, yet not a single WDC.

Also, breaking.

As far as I know, Spa will be his 300th.

I just counted:

1993 : 16 participations, 16 starts
1994 : 16 participations, 16 starts
1995 : 17 participations, 17 starts
1996 : 16 participations, 16 starts
1997 : 17 participations, 17 starts
1998 : 16 participations, 15 starts
1999 : 16 participations, 16 starts
2000 : 17 participations, 17 starts
2001 : 17 participations, 17 starts
2002 : 17 participations, 15 starts
2003 : 16 participations, 16 starts
2004 : 18 participations, 18 starts
2005 : 19 participations, 19 starts
2006 : 18 participations, 18 starts
2007 : 17 participations, 17 starts
2008 : 18 participations, 18 starts
2009 : 17 participations, 17 starts
2010 : 12 participations, 12 starts
TOTAL : 300 participations, 297 starts

There is a difference between GPs and race starts.

"Assuming the season is trouble free, his 300th start will be achieved at the Japanese Grand Prix."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rubens_Barrichello

Mentioned in two posts already.



That's incorrect. Singapore will be 300th start.

That's actually a cheap-shot, isn't it. Of the guys in TOP10 of starts or participations on ly Schumacher and Piquet ever won a WDC

Well, it depends on how you look at it, but Rubens himself has written this message on Twitter:

"next one is our 300th...I think you are going to like my different helmet colours for this race.I love it "

So it will be celebrated in Spa.

That's so strange... Maybe he got it wrong or maybe he doesn't count San Marino GP 1994 where he crashed in practice?

I remember there was confusion as to when he was going to break Riccardo Patrese's record number of starts... Say, what is a "start" anyway?

Start is when you are deemed to have started the race. B4 sfety car was widely used starts were often red flaged after a crash and a new start was made. If you started in the first strat and crashed and didn't make it to the second start then you were classified as "Did not start". If your car dies before the start then you are also DNS.

I think that's the case. In San Marino he didn't make it to Q.

1998 Spa he started, but didn't make the restart after the first race was soon red flagged.
2002 Spain and France he was at the start line, but couldn't get his car moving. One can see that either as a DNS or a DNF.

But shed loads of cash and having a whole career at the peak of motorsport - I'm envious!

Rubens is saying Spa is his 300th Grand Prix and he will be celebrating it there. I believe he said he will do something with helmet design, but he didn't know if the team were going to do something. It was mentioned in Thursdays press conference for Hungary.

Not counting races where driver was not taking restart is not logical. Otherwise Ronnie Peterson died during the race he didn't start.

I think it will always be a topic of discussion about what counts as a start and what doesn't, and whilst I guess there's now an adopted way of registering it, it's not one that I particularly agree with.

Who would have guessed a few years ago that RB or anyone would ever make it to 300?
Even if he has no WDC, he hasn't lost his entusiasm and fighting spirit. It has been a good season for him.

It's just a pity he didn't get to drive for Williams earlier. They seem to be a very good match.
Who knows what they could have done last decade while BMW was still there?

Rubinho should be inducted into the Hall of Fame.

www.energizerkeepgoinghalloffame.com

"To be considered as a member of the Energizer Keep Going® Hall of Fame each nominee must exhibit the same perseverance, determination and never-quit spirit as the Energizer Bunny®"

Congratulations to Rubens Barrichello for his career in Grand Prix racing... here is something I knocked together which seemed fitting!!

I agree Rubens and Williams fit well together, although ofcourse 6-7 years ago you wouldn't be able to imagine it.

It's confusing when he actually hits the 300, so it's good he just took a race itself to celebrate it.

I think on Top Gear he mentioned that Hungary would be his 300th, and now it's Spa. While if you look at starts, it's even more confusing.

Ok so he counts 2 of those starts but not 1 of them.

My guess would be he doesn't count either:

1. France 2002 - he never even made it to the starting grid/round the parade lap whereas in the other 2 he did

2. Spa 1998 - he didn't make it to the restart

My guess is it's 1.

The FIA do it on participations, though. Their Hungary media pack has him down for 300 races, which is why I suspect he was getting questions from the media about it.

I know that some of the more fanatical Schumacherists are blaming Rubens for Pitwallgate, but indicting him seems a bit extreme.

He could be inducted though...

According to Forix (http://forix.com/driver.php?z=0&k=flap&d=0&l=0&r=1972052300&c=0), Rubens currently has 300 participations - with 1 non-qualification, 3 non-starts and 296 starts.

So he participated in his 300th Grand Prix meeting in Hungary. At the next race in Spa, assuming he takes to the track on Saturday afternoon, he'll qualify for his 300th Grand Prix. And, unless something unusual happens, he'll take his 300th start in Japan.

I m pretty certain Rubens didn't start the fated 94 Imola race

He technically didn't even qualify for it. In fact that's the only DNQ in the current field

Big party time!

I can't find a number for total number of races counting towards the WDC (so including Indy in the 50ties), but must be somewhere in region of 825 - 850.

So either of which races Rubens will celebrate 300 in, he will have raced in 35% of ALL races ever counting towards the WDC!!!

That is pretty impressive.

ops. edited.

and schumacher won around 10% of them...

yeah, I made a mistake there. Mentioned it in a post further down.

Singapore 2008 was 800th race, we had three more that year (Japan, China, Brazil) and then 17 last year. Now this year has had 12 races so far so we are at 832.

About Rubens, he's planning his celebration in Spa so he counts all races except Imola 1994.

Also, only regarding Grand Prix seasons but we can have four drivers only so that at least one of them has participated in every season of WDC so far:
Maurice Trintignant (1950-1964)
Chris Amon (1963-1976)
Riccardo Patrese (1977-1993)
Rubens Barrichello (1993 to date)

The most impressive thing is that the duel between Rubens and Schumacher we saw this sunday took place in 2010 but it could have been in 1993, given the two drivers...
it was like entering in a time box

That's pretty much the way I look at it. Indy 2005 only had six starters, but to me the irony is that Jacques Laffite suffered career-ending injuries in a "race" he never officially "started" (Brands Hatch 1986).

James Allen has a small feature on Rubens' 300th GP start

http://www.jamesallenonf1.com/2010/08/barr...0th-gp-t-shirt/

Happy 300th GP, Rubens, a momentous achievement!!!

And stay as fast, nice and natural as you always have been.

832 championship "events", of which Rubens has been in 300

I was just rewatching the 16 races of the 1993 season.

The amazing thing about this fact is that in the 1993 season Alain Prost and Ayrton Senna were still racing. So when we are watching Schumacher and Barrichello it is most definitely a time journey!

Hooray to that! Rubens part of Formula One history for more than 35% of all races!



That quote reveals unusual style, primer.

Thats actually an insane statistic
So many drivers come and go after one or two seasons. And just getting there is an acheivement only very few people in the world have. But to have been there as long as Rubens - almost counts as a title in itself AFAIC.

Quick count gave me 132 drivers who have raced against Barrichello in F1.

Crazy brazillian

821 drivers ever raced in the sport (of them about 100 who only raced in F1 in Indy in the 50s), Rubens raced against 132.
832 F1 WDC races were ever held, Rubens raced in 300 of them, more than 36% of all GPs held.

And the chap is youthful, cheerful, friendly and fast!

300 Grand Prix is a seriously awesome statistic... it really messes with your brains when you follow all the twists and turns of Barrichello's F1 career.

In my view it's more appealing in a weird romantic way than Schuey's brutal race win total, which is also a ridiculously awesome stat.

Some people won't get it though.. if the number itself isn't in the millions or the billions, their stupid brain isn't gonna be able to compute that into an impressive number, regardless of what we're talking about.

Rubens

Three (hundred?) cheers for Rubens! I can't wait to see his helmet design for Spa.

I think if the red lights have gone out and your car has crossed the white line, you should be classified as starting. I think that seems the most logical for me...otherwise those that were say, involved in the spa '98 pile up, what were they doing, living in a parallel universe? Likewise, if you stall on the grid, you've got to the start of the race, but your wheels haven't turned, so you've not actually participated.

Reubens seems like a likable bloke (obviously don't know him in person), good on him

A quote from TNF discussion about counting race starts vs dns's

Rubens gave a interview in a TV show and unveilled some facts about his career.
The stuff I remember:

1> The begin.
Rubens racing initiation came from his mother's side of the family.
His uncle by mother's side - Darcio Campos - was a touring car and F3 driver and at 6yo both Rubens and his cousin were given go karts.
At 8yo, Rubens wanted to race, but his father believed he was not prepared. So his uncles made the inscription is his first race. Rubens finished 3rd and his Dad was only called to attend the podium ceremony.
His mother also used to race and Rub has a "Lipstick Cup" Trophy still in his living room.

2> Wet racing skills.
Rub loved to spend time in his go kart and when it rained, his father used to say: if you spin more than three times, then we will go home.
So Rub develop the ability to find the boundaries of wet racing, to spend more time having fun in his kart.

3> Braking limits.
Talking about his fitness, Rub mentioned that at Intelagos a F1 brakes 20 meters before the Senna esses and that the limit is how much he believes his body will support the G-Forces, up to 4G at that point.
So the braking limit is actually the fitness of the F1 driver. [? - Think about it Schumy]

4> Ferrari times.
Rubens mentioned that he never had a 2nd driver clause in his contracts at Ferrari.
Since he first sat at the table in Monaco with Todt, he said that he never meant to be the second driver.
Rub believes that team orders are normal and a historical fact in F1 and that the "Ferrari Thing" is different bcs it happens too early in the championship.

5> Hungaroring.
Rub described the overtaking move on Schumy.
MS chose the middle line in the straight leaving enough room in the right. Rub went for it. MS kept squeezing him towards the wall and according to his own words " somebody up there removed the wall" [made it end], bcs he had no idea how the overtaking move would finish.

When he called home after the race, his wife Silvana yelled at him "You are not a responsable man", but his kids shouted in the background "Yes, Daddy".
By leaving Ferrari before his contract ended and his recent overtaking over Schumacher, Rub believes he recovered part of his honor along the brazilian F1 fans and noticed an improvement in his image.

6> Life after F1.
Rub will quit F1 when he realizes he doesn't make the turns the way his mind wants it to be done.
He will keep racing in Brazil Stock Car or other racing series.
The only spec he won't do is oval racing [only Indy?] as its forbiden by Silvana.

Just watching 2008 review, celebrated 257 starts. At Istanbul beating patrese's record...

Hope Williams find some more speed and this can be a great weekend for Rubens.

RB 300