Postby JoKeR1980 » July 12th, 2009, 6:53 pm
Rubens Barrichello accused the Brawn GP team of losing him victory in the immediate aftermath of the German Grand Prix.
Starting from second place on the grid at the Nurburgring, the Brazilian led the opening laps despite an incident off the line when polesitter Mark Webber collided with him.
However, while Webber overcame a resulting drive-through penalty to score a first F1 victory, Barrichello faded badly in the race.
With both Brawn GP cars hampered by tyre problems, the team's decision to run both Barrichello and team-mate Jenson Button on a three-stop strategy appeared to backfire.
Barrichello fell to sixth by the time the chequered flag fell, with championship leader Button moving one place ahead of him at the final sequence of stops.
Having also seen Webber and Red Bull team-mate Sebastian Vettel leap above him in the drivers' standings, an irate Barrichello proceeded to tear into his employers.
Asked 'where it had gone wrong' for him, Barrichello replied: "Our strategy from the pitwall. The team have shown how to lose a race. I am terribly upset.
"I did all I could but they made me lose the race basically. I feel sorry for myself.
"To be honest, I wish I could just go straight on the plane and go home. I don't want to talk to anyone in the team because I don't want to understand. All it will be from them is 'blah, blah blah'."
"I'm not saying they are favouring anyone, all I'm saying is that they have given a good show in how to lose."
Tried too hard
However, team principal Ross Brawn sought to diffuse situation by saying the team had tried too hard during the race to overcome the car's deficiencies.
"It wasn't a great race for us and I think we tried too hard on the pitwall to compensate for that," he said.
"Rubens' radio wasn't working great and so he didn't get his normal briefing in the car during the race. He's very frustrated and so are we - and, yes, we did lose him the race by just not being quick enough.
"I'm sure once he has looked at the figures then he will realise we were just not quick enough. Rubens set the eleventh fastest lap time of the race and you just can't win races being eleventh fastest."
Asked directly whether Barrichello's remarks would put his future with the team in jeopardy, Brawn replied: "He's a very important member of the team and you don't lose that status just because of a few words said in the heat of the moment."
Fuel rig problem
A more measured Barrichello later said that a fuel rig problem he experienced at his second pit stop had cost him a possible place on the podium.
He explained: "We didn't have enough pace compared to the Red Bulls to win but the fuel rig problem at my second stop where we had to switch rigs probably cost me a place on the podium.
"That dropped me out behind (Nico) Rosberg and the extra lap which Jenson had at our final stops was enough for him to get ahead of me."
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