Rubens Barrichello conceded he now has to win his home grand prix in Brazil to keep his Formula One title dream alive.
The Brawn GP driver gained a point on team-mate Jenson Button at Japanese Grand Prix after finishing seventh but still trails the championship leader by 14 points with just races at Interlagos and Abu Dhabi remaining.
It means Button will be crowned world champion for the first time in his career if he gains four points on Barrichello in Brazil and the 37-year-old knows that realistically only victory will keep him in the hunt.
“I’ve got to go there and win the race, that’s the aim, the rest for me is just the rest,” Barrichello said.
“If I deserve to win the championship, I will. I’m not going to be in the middle of the race thinking about if five plus five is 10. I mean five plus five here in Japan was six! I had a five-place penalty here in Japan and all of a sudden I was in sixth place.”
“I have no intention whatsoever of looking at points or this and that. My intention is there to live in full the race in Brazil and win the race.”
“I’m not there calculating what I can do, I’m going there to win the race and see later what happens. The chances of the title are smaller but not as small as when it was a 26-point gap at one point, so they’re very much alive.” Daily Mail
Rubens Barrichello is hopeful his home crowd can help drive him closer towards the world title at the Brazilian Grand Prix later this month as he looks to keep his championship dream alive until the final round in Abu Dhabi.
Barrichello said: “It’s my home race and I love going there. I’ll be there going all out for the win and hopefully take the championship battle to the final race in Abu Dhabi.”
The undulating nature of the Interlagos circuit in two weekends’ time should play to the strengths of the Brawns of Button and Barrichello, both of whom have struggled at the last two races in Singapore and Japan.
Barrichello admitted he had got his set-up wrong at the weekend in Suzuka as his seventh place saw him cut Button’s championship lead by just one point but he blamed the safety car, which was deployed late in the race following Jaime Alguersuari’s crash, for costing him another place.
“I would have finished sixth if it wasn’t the safety car but I can’t complain as realistically this is the best I could have hoped for,” he said.
“So that’s a bit frustrating but I’m feeling good going to Brazil and my championship bid is still very much alive.”
The Brazilian has gone well at Interlagos in the past, having taken pole position twice there in 2003 and 2004 when he drove for Ferrari. The National
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