SAO PAULO: And they said he was unpopular!
As chants of “Rubinho, Rubinho” echoed around a rain-swept Interlagos circuit, after the longest qualifying session in Formula One history, Rubens Barrichello stepped from his machine to acknowledge his fans.
Barrichello was born and brought up a stone’s throw from this ramshackle circuit. On Sunday afternoon, he will have a glorious chance to take the Formula One world championship title fight to Abu Dhabi in two weeks after claiming pole position on a chaotic, rainy afternoon.
Jenson Button, who leads him by 14 points in the standings, could only claim 14th spot after a poor choice of tyres during the second qualifying period meant he did not make the final top-10 shoot-out.
As Button stalked back to his motorhome to watch the denouement on TV, Barrichello produced an inspired drive to send the crowd into raptures. He has now out-qualified Button at every grand prix – except Hungary – since Turkey in June.
“We thought the wets would hold up and they didn’t,” explained both men’s team principal Ross Brawn. “We were lucky with Rubens, but not with Jenson.
“It was a poor call in the end. It was an easy decision [on tyres] in this last session and you could see what the car could do. We thought it was about not making a mistake, but perhaps we were too conservative.”
The third man in the title frame, Red Bull’s Sebastian Vettel, saw his slim title hopes vanish almost entirely after he was caught out by the torrential downpours which punctuated the day at Interlagos. The German timed his run in Q1 badly, leaving it too late to post a quick lap, and will start from 16th on the grid.
That will be of little consolation to Button, who will now have to hope that his bold claim earlier in the week, that qualifying was not as important at Interlagos as it is elsewhere, comes true. “Here you can overtake,” he said.
“It is a lot easier than some of the circuits we’ve been to.” Button, who has been leading the championship since day one in Australia nearly seven months ago, may have to do rather a lot of overtaking this afternoon if he is going to fulfil his dreams today.
The mathematics are simple: Barrichello must beat Button by at least five points to force a final-day showdown in Abu Dhabi. That means finishing at least fourth today and maybe higher if Button can get into the points.
That should be possible, particularly if the local weather patterns produce a lottery of the sort we saw yesterday.
On another dramatic day in what has been a ludicrously eventful season, the monsoon-like rain played havoc with team tactics and set-ups. Morning practice was all but called off as the new drainage system at Interlagos was put to the test.
Red Bull’s team principal Christian Horner joked he would need a boat to get across to the pit wall whereupon the television cameras panned to a guy with a broom attempting hopelessly to sweep away some of the standing water.
The day was about to get a whole lot worse for Horner, who could only watch in horror as Vettel’s car slipped and slid all over the place as the seconds ticked down in Q1.
“I think I went to the pool not the racetrack today,” Vettel said.
“Obviously it’s extremely disappointing. That’s life. There was a window where the circuit was quickest and we couldn’t use it. We were struggling with traffic. When we had clean air, it started to rain more heavily. It’s a shame. There wasn’t much missing, just a question of timing. It would be much nicer to start from the front, but we have to accept it.”
Lewis Hamilton was another victim of Q1, which was red flagged within four minutes of starting at 2pm after Ferrari’s Giancarlo Fisichella lost control exiting turn two and stalled on the edge of the track. The world champion starts from 18th.
All eyes, though, will be at the front of the grid, at the oldest, most-experienced man on the grid, the local boy: Barrichello. “I am keeping my feet on the ground,” the veteran said. “I know what to do.”
Jenson Button wins the title if...
1. He finishes third or higher at Interlagos.
2. He finishes fourth or fifth and Rubens Barrichello finishes lower than first.
3. He finishes sixth or seventh and Barrichello finishes lower than second, and Sebastian Vettel finishes lower than first.
4. He finishes eighth and Barrichello finishes lower than third, and Vettel finishes lower than second.
5. Vettel fails to finish second or higher and Barrichello fails to finish fourth or higher.
Brazil GP final qualifying:
1. Rubens Barrichello (BRA/Brawn-Mercedes) 1:19.576
2. Mark Webber (AUS/Red Bull-Renault) 1:19.668
3. Adrian Sutil (GER/Force India-Mercedes) 1:19.912
4. Jarno Trulli (ITA/Toyota) 1:20.097
5. Kimi Raikkonen (FIN/Ferrari) 1:20.168
6. Sebastien Buemi (SWI/Toro Rosso-Ferrari) 1:20.250
7. Nico Rosberg (GER/Williams-Toyota) 1:20.326
8. Robert Kubica (POL/BMW Sauber) 1:20.631
9. Kazuki Nakajima (JPN/Williams-Toyota) 1:20.674
10. Fernando Alonso (ESP/Renault) 1:21.422
11. Kamui Kobayashi (JPN/Toyota)
12. Jaime Alguersuari (ESP/Toro Rosso-Ferrari)
13. Romain Grosjean (FRA/Renault)
14. Jenson Button (GBR/Brawn-Mercedes)
15. Vitantonio Liuzzi (ITA/Force India-Mercedes)
16. Sebastian Vettel (GER/Red Bull-Renault)
17. Heikki Kovalainen (FIN/McLaren-Mercedes)
18. Lewis Hamilton (GBR/McLaren-Mercedes)
19. Nick Heidfeld (GER/BMW Sauber)
20. Giancarlo Fisichella (ITA/Ferrari)
The Daily Telegraph