“I would have been unlucky, if I had not been able to use the spare, which we did to be on the safe side,” said Barrichello. “Thanks to the T-car, I was able to make a normal start, even if it was a fraught time as we had to do everything very quickly. I also had a little bit of pain in my back, because I had never used that seat before.”

Barrichello had looked faster than Ralf Schumacher in the opening stages of the race but was unable to find a way passed the Williams driver. But after his second stop Barrichello suffered when his tyres began to develop blisters resulting in a drop of pace, but overall he enjoyed his race.

“My car was very good on the first stint,” continued Rubens, “But after the pit stop, my second set of tyres was blistering, especially the fronts and there was nothing I could do. It was a tough race because I was fighting all the time. The first part, when I was fighting with Ralf, was good fun.”

On reflection Barrichello is taking the positive outlook that is was three points won this weekend rather than ponder on the points he seemed to have lost. And with F1 not taking a 3 week break Barrichello is heading home to Brazil to recharge his batteries for the remaining 5 races of the season.