Straight From Australia

Dear Friends,

What did you think about the beginning of the season? I loved it! With the fast car we had in Australia, of course I couldn’t have been happier! I still haven’t seen the race on TV, but I heard it was very exciting. Well, let’s focus on what is important: my weekend.
Friday started out great and right off the bat we saw how competitive we were with a full tank. Everyone was having problems with the soft tires, which were graining after a couple of laps. We also had that problem, but not as bad as the other teams.
On Saturday, during the morning practice, nobody knew this (the other teams, I mean), but the car still had gas. Jenson and I were still among the first six. The qualifying was awesome! I was first in the Q1 and Q2 and I was very happy with the car. In the Q3, my car, which had the right amount of gas for the race, started to understeer and I couldn’t maintain the same rhythm as before, so I ended up second. Overtaking a teammate is always difficult because the tuning of both cars is very similar. Nevertheless, I was confident for Sunday, expecting a great race.
At the start, everything was great, I had the right tires, but I hit "anti stall" and the car went into neutral. If, for example, an F1 car spins at a certain speed, “the anti stall” will kick in by itself. When I saw the problem, I actually reacted quickly, but I still lost a lot time. That wasn’t the only predicament: I got to the first turn a little behind Webber and I was supposed to have stayed behind him until the end of the turn if i hadn’t been hit in the rear by Kovalainen. It was strong enough to push me against Webber. I was really lucky not to have broken the suspension with that bump. The nose and the diffuser were damaged, but that did not hold me back. The nose ended up breaking when I hit Kimi, which was all my fault. At the pit stop, we changed the nose and the car got better again. The best moment for me was when the race started again after the safety car left and I was able to overtake Buemi and Rosberg at the same time during the braking of the third turn.

From then on, you know what happened. I would have been 4th if Kubica and Vettel hadn’t crashed at the very end of the race. To think that a month ago I was anxiously waiting for a call.

Let’s celebrate life and the opportunity to learn through difficult moments. Not to mention the love for what I do.
See you in Malasia,

Rubens Barrichello

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