Barrichello Hopes to Retain Seat with Williams

Rubens Barrichello is not so certain about keeping his seat with Williams F1 team anymore. Of course he wants to stay at Grove, but the latest developments of the team's financial situation suggest that he's also on the verge of losing his driving spot to someone able to help Williams with money, rather than experience.

If last month, Barrichello told the media that his seat with Williams F1 Team is 100 percent secured and the signing of the contract is solely a matter of time, now the Brazilian veteran changed his speech a bit.

“I've done a good job this year and I'm focused on the car for next year, so I'm hoping to stay,” said Barrichello in a Portuguese interview with the news agency Reuters.

According to recent reports, Pastor Maldonado has already signed a pre-agreement with Williams for 2011, bringing with him some EUR15 million in backing from state-owned petroleum company PDVSA. Although initial reports had hinted that Maldonado will replace Nico Hulkenberg, some recent comments from Williams' engineering boss Patrick Head have cast a shadow of doubt over Barrichello's future also.

Preparing for his home grand prix this weekend, Barrichello admitted that he would be disappointed to leave Williams after the 2010 season, especially since he has already helped the team develop some parts of the 2011-spec car.

“I've been working on the car for next year. There are things arising from the regulations that we are only going to find out later, but the design is bold and 2011 is going to be better than this one,” added Barrichello.