Needless to say, that milestone alone reflects this man's incredible passion for Formula One. Throughout his 18-year career in the sport, he changed 5 teams, was close to becoming world champion twice, at least mathematically (once with Ferrari and once with Brawn GP, last year), was almost killed in a heavy crash once (Friday practice of the 1994 San Marino Grand Prix) and was considered the only protege of 3-time world champion and arguably the greatest F1 driver of all times Ayrton Senna.
“I feel very privileged to have been in the sport for such a long time and it feels great to reach this milestone. I still think I am at the top of my game and plan to continue being competitive long past my 300th GP,” said Barrichello in a preview for this weekend's Belgian Grand Prix, for which his team set up a brand new package in order to properly celebrate this incredible milestone for their Brazilian racer.
The Williams FW32 will feature brand new front and rear wings for the race at Spa-Francorchamps, along with several other technical changes aimed at improving its capabilities on high-speed circuits such as the one in Belgium. Even the team's technical director Sam Michael admitted this weekend will be tackled with mixed emotion, as everyone will seek to provide Barrichello with everything he needs to make his 300th race one of the most memorable ones.
“We're looking forward to celebrating Rubens' 300th Grand Prix in Belgium, an impressive achievement,” said Michael.
Barrichello first broke the F1 world record for most Grands Prix started during the 2008 Turkish Grand Prix, when he surpassed Italian racer's Ricardo Patrese previous record of 256 starts. Later on, in 2009, during Lap 47 of the Monaco Grand Prix, he would become the F1 driver with the most completed laps in history, surpassing Michael Schumacher's previous record of 13,909.
The best thing about these records is that Barrichello has every intention of improving them, as he is now all alone on top of the overall statistics of the sport, without any pressure from anybody. The Brazilian is currently in talks to extend his stay at Williams for another season – it is said a deal is imminent – meaning he may compete in F1 until at least the 326th race.
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