Michael Schumacher will make his 300th appearance at an F1 race this weekend.
But one driver got there before him: his former team mate Rubens Barrichello. Ger Foley has a question about the driver whose F1 career ended with his 322nd start at home in Brazil last year:
As Rubens Barrichello has the most starts in F1, I would like to know how many countries has he raced in the world championship and also how many different circuits has he raced on in F1? Thanks
Ger Foley
Barrichello appeared in 326 races (making 322 starts) in 25 different countries as follows:
| Country/ies | Grands Prix |
|---|---|
| Italy | 33 |
| Germany | 31 |
| Spain | 25 |
| Japan | 21 |
| Great Britain | 20 |
| Australia, Brazil, Hungary, Monaco | 19 |
| Canada | 18 |
| Belgium | 17 |
| France | 16 |
| Malaysia | 13 |
| China, United States | 8 |
| Austria, Bahrain, Turkey | 7 |
| Argentina, Portugal, Singapore | 4 |
| Abu Dhabi | 3 |
| South Korea | 2 |
| South Africa, India | 1 |
Barrichello began his F1 career in the 1993 South African Grand Prix at Kyalami – a venue F1 has not returned to since.
He made the most starts in countries which have held multiple races in a season. First among which is Italy, which had the Italian and San Marino Grands Prix (the latter held at Imola in Italy) until 2006.
Note that Barrichello failed to start on four occasions:
- 1994 San Marino Grand Prix – did not qualify (injured)
- 1998 Belgian Grand Prix – did not start (crashed in initial start before race was aborted)
- 2002 Spanish Grand Prix – did not start
- 2002 French Grand Prix – did not start
Here are the circuits he raced on, including the six tracks he visited in all 19 of his F1 seasons:
| Circuit/s | Grands Prix |
|---|---|
| Interlagos, Silverstone, Hungaroring, Monza, Monte-Carlo, Circuit de Catalunya | 19 |
| Circuit Gilles Villeneuve | 18 |
| Spa-Francorchamps, Suzuka | 17 |
| Albert Park, Magny-Cours, Hockenheimring | 16 |
| Nurburgring | 15 |
| Imola | 14 |
| Sepang International Circuit | 13 |
| Shanghai International Circuit, Indianapolis | 8 |
| A1-Ring, Bahrain International Circuit, Istanbul Park | 7 |
| Buenos Aires, Valencia, Estoril, Singapore | 4 |
| Yas Marina, Adelaide | 3 |
| Jerez, Fujia, Korea International Circuit, TI Aida | 2 |
| Donington Park | 1 |
| Buddh International Circuit | 1 |
| Kyalami | 1 |
Monza was Barrichello’s most successful circuit. He won there three times in 2002, 2004 and his final F1 victory for Brawn in 2009.
But he seldom enjoyed much luck at his home race. He retired nine times in a row at Interlagos from 1994 to 2003 – on the latter occasion he ran out of fuel while leading. His best result, third, followed in 2004, and was the only time he stood on the podium in front of his home crowd.
For comparison, here’s how the F1 calendar looked in Barrichello’s first and last seasons in F1:
1993 F1 calendar
| Round | Grand Prix | Circuit |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | South Africa | Kyalami |
| 2 | Brazil | Interlagos |
| 3 | Europe | Donington |
| 4 | San Marino | Imola |
| 5 | Spain | Circuit de Catalunya |
| 6 | Monaco | Monte Carlo |
| 7 | Canada | Montreal |
| 8 | France | Magny-Cours |
| 9 | Great Britain | Silverstone |
| 10 | Germany | Hockenheim |
| 11 | Hungary | Hungaroring |
| 12 | Belgium | Spa-Francorchamps |
| 13 | Italy | Monza |
| 14 | Portugal | Estoril |
| 15 | Japan | Suzuka |
| 16 | Australia | Adelaide |
2011 F1 calendar
| Round | Grand Prix | Circuit |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Australia | Albert Park |
| 2 | Malaysia | Sepang International Circuit |
| 3 | China | Shanghai International Circuit |
| 4 | Turkey | Istanbul Park |
| 5 | Spain | Circuit de Catalunya |
| 6 | Monaco | Monte Carlo |
| 7 | Canada | Circuit Gilles Villeneuve |
| 8 | Europe | Valencia |
| 9 | Great Britain | Silverstone |
| 10 | Germany | Nurburgring |
| 11 | Hungary | Hungaroring |
| 12 | Belgium | Spa-Francorchamps |
| 13 | Italy | Monza |
| 14 | Singapore | Singapore |
| 15 | Japan | Suzuka |
| 16 | Korea | Korea International Circuit |
| 17 | India | Buddh International Circuit |
| 18 | Abu Dhabi | Yas Marina |
| 19 | Brazil | Interlagos |
NB. The Bahrain Grand Prix at Bahrain International Circuit was cancelled.
Since leaving F1 Barrichello has made a new home in IndyCar, where he has had to get used to circuits which are bumpier than F1’s and generally have much less run-off. He scored his best result to date with fourth at the Sonoma road course on Sunday.
See here for more statistics and details on Rubens Barrichello’s career:
And if you consider yourself an expert on him have a go at the F1 Fanatic Rubens Barrichello quiz:
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AndrewTanner (@andrewtanner)
28th August 2012, 13:45
I’m not sure how much these drivers get to actually see the world when there at various circuits but I sure am jealous of them.
He’s raced on every continent that inhabits human life. That’s a brilliant accomplishment.
Nickpkr
28th August 2012, 21:08
and several times !
BasCB (@bascb)
29th August 2012, 13:55
He raced in Africa only once, in the last race held at Kyalami
andae23 (@andae23)
28th August 2012, 13:45
I was wondering if his apparent weak performances at his home Grand Prix were just empirical, or actually based on something. For that, I did a quick calculation on average point per GP for different nations (using the current points system for every grand prix) and what I found was not surprising. Barrichello scored on average 2.4 points per Brazilian GP, which is (apart from the Indian, Luxembourg and South African GPs, which he only entered once or twice) the lowest average of all GPs. His next least succesful GPs were the Portugese (3.0), Belgian (4.0) and German (4.0) GP.
While I was at it, I chechek whether the Italian GP was his most succesful of all GPs. It is true that he picked up more wins in Italy (three) than anywhere else. But if you look at point averages, the number for the Italian GP (8.1) is actually lower than for the Austrian (9.0) and European GP (10.0). Looking at the number of podiums, again the Italian GP (five) is past by the British and German GP (six). So I would say the European Grand Prix is his most succesful GP of all.
Racer (@racer)
28th August 2012, 14:00
Keith’s talking about circuits, not GPs, and since the European GP was held at 4 different circuits in 3 different countries over his career (Donington, Jerez, Nurburgring, Valencia), it seems silly to group them all together just because they shared the same arbitrary designation. And I think wins are more important than average points anyway.
andae23 (@andae23)
28th August 2012, 14:18
This only makes thing worse. Barrichello has raced 13 races at the Nurburgring, and apart from three occasions, he has always finished in the top 5 there, giving an average of 10.9 points.
In Barrichello’s case I would doubt that, because the number of times he has finished behind Schumacher on the podium is staggering. It not right to judge one’s performance by the number of wins alone.
Jeanrien (@jeanrien)
28th August 2012, 15:23
@racer Totally agree specially with the change in point calculation so a 5th place now is equivalent in point at a race win before, that’s quite a world of difference and probably influence your calculation … And I agree with what have been said, the wins count for much more than podium places which are themselves well above all other places, points or no points …
I’m surprised he never raced at Zolder in Belgium, thought it was still on, but after a quick search found that it’s off the calender since 1984, quite some years before Rubens in F1
andae23 (@andae23)
28th August 2012, 15:31
@jeanrien no, I actually thought about that: I used the current point system for all his races, so that this doesn’t influence the calculations
Jeanrien (@jeanrien)
30th August 2012, 9:41
@andae23 and did you gave him back the wins stolen by Mickael under team radio ?
Bad joke apart, the analysis is quite consistant in Rubens case, he has done enough race to have a significant sample of data. But those results in Brazil are quite surprising, maybe he got out of his racing bubble while at home and couldn’t manage anything good but drivers usually fancy having good result on home soil.
John H (@john-h)
28th August 2012, 15:48
It says that he used a consistent points system in @andae23 ‘s initial comment.
For what it’s worth, I think the analysis is very interesting in terms of results, especially at his home race. Points mean more than just looking at wins in my opinion at least, unless you agree with Bernie’s Medals that is.
Carlito's way
28th August 2012, 18:39
@andae23 it’s a interesting take. Nice to look at Rubens career from your perspective, there’s a lot more to ones career than wins alone. Well done with all the calculations you made. You do need to get yourself a girlfriend though :)
bosyber (@bosyber)
28th August 2012, 21:45
I too think it is a very interesting way to look at it @john-H,Carlito’s way. Especially indeed in the case of a driver like Barrichello it seems very defining to compare his podium tally with his wins in different years since as you say @andae23 he finished so often 2nd or 3rd behind Michael Schumacher.
andae23 (@andae23)
28th August 2012, 22:18
@Carlito’s-way I’m working on it ;)
xeroxpt (@)
28th August 2012, 21:51
Not relevant, a driver prefers to win once than finishing 10 times second.
andae23 (@andae23)
28th August 2012, 22:31
Ask Stirling Moss.
verstappen (@verstappen)
28th August 2012, 22:13
Interesting @andae23 Wondering how his career stats look in old points system. Because when less places count, you fight for those. Does it reflect in the stats then?
andae23 (@andae23)
28th August 2012, 22:30
Then Interlagos (0.4 points/GP) remains his worst circuit by far. His best circuit remains the Nürburgring (3.6), followed by Monza (2.6). So nothing has changed.
OmarR-Pepper (@)
28th August 2012, 17:40
Barrichelo had a near miss in that San Marino accident… today I was watching a video on Youtube about Jum Clark, I honestly didn’t know he died on track (excuse my ignorance)… How many world champions or direct World Champion contenders have died on track? I know this question is off topic, sorry.
Jayfreese (@)
28th August 2012, 18:06
So nah we need to know Micheal’s stats!
caci99 (@)
28th August 2012, 18:43
It is going to be a long page to read. Could still serve at the end of this long summer brake :)
Estesark (@estesark)
28th August 2012, 22:30
I was debating with someone in the off-topic section of a non-F1 forum whether Barrichello or Bottas would be a better option for Williams in 2013. I said Bottas. What does everyone else think?
Kimi4WDC
29th August 2012, 1:43
Bottas of course.
I mean, how many years he spent in a Championship winning car? He didn’t win any. You can talk all you want about him being forced to play number two, but in the end he decided to stay there.
Though I would love to see Barichello joining Williams for 2013 and McLaren swooping Bottas.
DavidJH (@davidjh)
29th August 2012, 11:36
Michael might end up beating Rubens’s record, but I would say that Rubens finally has the edge over Michael in terms of performance. Seems to me that at this stage in their careers (300 races +) Rubens is quite simply driving better than Michael, not just that the drop off from his peak is less.
MahavirShah (@mahavirshah)
29th August 2012, 15:23
I really do miss seeing Reubens on the starting grid. I agree that he was way past his best last year and that it was time for him to leave driving duties in F1. His mild and jovial manner made him one of the drivers whom I never formally supported but just liked watching race. I never saw him being disrespectful to another driver on or off track and never endangered anyone on track (unlike a certain Pastor M.). I think the only time I saw him lose it was when he threw his steering onto the track in Monaco I think, a couple of years ago.
foleyger (@foleyger)
30th August 2012, 12:07
Thanks a mil for answering my question. great work, Keith!