Rubens Gonçalves Barrichello (Brazilian Portuguese: [ˈʁubẽjz ɡõˈsawviz baʁiˈkɛlu]; born 23 May 1972) is a Brazilian racing driver and broadcaster, who competes in the Stock Car Pro Series for Scuderia Bandeiras. Nicknamed "Rubinho" (pronounced [ʁuˈbĩɲu]), Barrichello competed in Formula One from 1993 to 2011, and twice finished runner-up in the World Drivers' Championship in 2002 and 2004 with Ferrari; he won eleven Grands Prix across nineteen seasons. In stock car racing, Barrichello is a two-time champion of the Stock Car Pro Series in 2014 and 2022 with Full Time Sports.
Born and raised in São Paulo, Barrichello started his career in karting, winning several national titles before progressing to junior formulae in 1989. Barrichello moved to Europe the following year, winning his first title at the Formula Opel Lotus Euroseries before his victory at the 1991 British Formula Three Championship with West Surrey. He progressed to International F3000 in 1992, finishing third in his rookie season. Barrichello signed for Jordan in 1993, making his Formula One debut at the South African Grand Prix. He retained his seat for 1994, achieving his maiden podium at the Pacific Grand Prix and qualifying on pole for the Belgian Grand Prix as he finished sixth in the World Drivers' Championship. After two further seasons with Jordan—scoring another podium at the 1995 Canadian Grand Prix—Barrichello signed with Stewart for his 1997 campaign. Amidst a reliability issues-plagued debut season driving the SF01, Barrichello finished only three races, including second-place in Monaco. After a difficult 1998 campaign, Stewart improved greatly in 1999, with Barrichello taking several as well as another pole position at the French Grand Prix.
Barrichello signed for Ferrari in 2000 to partner Michael Schumacher, taking his maiden victory at the German Grand Prix that year. Barrichello twice finished runner-up to Schumacher in 2002 and 2004, contributing to five consecutive World Constructors' Championships for Ferrari with 51 podium appearances in 85 Grands Prix. After enduring a winless 2005 season, Barrichello joined Honda—later known as Brawn GP—in 2006, finishing third in the World Drivers' Championship in 2009 and contributing to a sixth Constructors' Championship. He moved to Williams in 2010, being appointed chairman of the Grand Prix Drivers' Association. After two years with Williams, Barrichello retired from Formula One, having achieved eleven wins, fourteen pole positions, seventeen fastest laps and 68 podiums, the latter of which remains the record for a non-World Champion.
Outside of Formula One, Barrichello competed in the IndyCar Series in 2012 with KV Racing Technology. He then returned to Brazil to participate in the Stock Car Series, winning the championship in 2014 and 2022. In endurance racing, Barrichello finished runner-up at the 24 Hours of Daytona in 2016 with Wayne Taylor Racing. From 2013 to 2014, he was a commentator and pundit for TV Globo, later leaving to co-host motorsport YouTube channel Acelerados.
The paternal side of his family comes from Veneto, Italy (from the town of Riese, in the province of Treviso). His maternal side of the family is of Portuguese origin. Both his father and paternal grandfather are also named Rubens, and Barrichello shares his father's birthday: 23 May. Therefore, Rubens Barrichello was known as Rubinho (Portuguese for 'little Rubens'), which has become his nickname.
Barrichello won five karting titles in Brazil before going to Europe to race in the Formula Vauxhall Lotus series in 1990. In his first year, he won the championship, a feat he replicated the following year in the British Formula 3 Championship, beating David Coulthard. He very nearly joined Formula One, the highest category of single seater racing, at just nineteen years of age. Instead he competed in Formula 3000 in 1992. He finished third in the championship, and joined the Jordan Formula One team for the 1993 Formula One season. During this time, and also early in his Formula One career, Barrichello lived in Cambridge, Cambridgeshire, UK.
In Barrichello's third race, the European Grand Prix, he started from twelfth place in very wet conditions but was fourth by the end of the first lap. He ran as high as second and was running third, having passed the Williams of Damon Hill and Alain Prost, before encountering a fuel pressure problem. His Jordan's reliability in 1993 was poor, and he finished few races. Barrichello regularly outpaced his more experienced teammates, Ivan Capelli and Thierry Boutsen. In the French Grand Prix, he almost scored his first Grand Prix point (and the team's first that year) but Michael Andretti passed him on the final lap for the sixth and final points-scoring position. His only points finish of the season came at the Japanese Grand Prix with fifth place, ahead of his new teammate Eddie Irvine. These two points put him in eighteenth place in the standings.
1994 started with a fourth place in Brazil and a third place at Aida, which was his first podium finish. These results put Barrichello in second place in the drivers' ranking, behind Michael Schumacher, who had won the two races. However, at the San Marino Grand Prix, he suffered a violent crash during Friday practice, hitting the wall at the Variante Bassa and flipping the car. The accident knocked him unconscious and threatened his life, with his tongue blocking his airway. Barrichello credited the on-track work of Sid Watkins for saving his life. The race weekend saw a succession of serious accidents, of which two were fatal: Roland Ratzenberger died during Saturday's qualifying session when he crashed his Simtek at the curva Villeneuve, while on Sunday, during the race, Barrichello's mentor Ayrton Senna crashed his Williams at Tamburello and also died. Barrichello was deeply affected by the deaths.
Later in the season, Barrichello took pole position at the Belgian Grand Prix, and led some laps at Estoril. His pole position at Spa-Francorchamps set the record for the youngest driver to secure pole position at that time. He concluded the season with fourth place in Adelaide. He finished the season sixth overall in the Drivers' Championship with nineteen points, outscoring Irvine, who scored six.
During the 1995 season, Barrichello scored a second-place finish in Montreal, but the Jordan cars were less reliable than in 1994 mostly because Jordan took over the works Peugeot engine contract from the McLaren team. In three races, he lost seven points on the final lap—a high-speed collision with Mark Blundell at Silverstone, and mechanical failures at Barcelona and in Hungary. Barrichello finished the season in eleventh with eleven points, one ahead of Irvine.
There were high hopes for 1996. The Benson & Hedges cigarette brand brought an infusion of sponsorship to the team. Barrichello was amongst the frontrunners in Brazil, the second race of the season, before spinning off after his brakes overheated. However, as the season progressed, Jordan became less competitive. Barrichello's relationship with team owner Eddie Jordan soured during 1996, and at the end of the year, after being linked to strong teams, including Benetton (the seat was later filled by Gerhard Berger due to the Austrian bringing in more sponsorship), he left for the newly formed Stewart Grand Prix. His final season at Jordan resulted in fourteen points.
Stewart's debut season in 1997 saw frequent reliability problems, and Barrichello finished only three races. The highlight was a second-place finish in Monaco, which put him thirteenth in the standings. Teammate Jan Magnussen scored no points. The same year, Barrichello married Silvana Giaffone on 24 February. She is a cousin of Brazilian Indy Car drivers Felipe and Affonso Giaffone, and a niece of the Stock Car Brasil champions Affonso Giaffone Filho and Zeca Giaffone.
1998 was not much better for Stewart, with two fifth places being the team's best results. Despite the poor reliability of the team, Barrichello consistently beat teammate Magnussen, which resulted in the latter being dropped at the French Grand Prix, replaced by Jos Verstappen, another teammate beaten by Barrichello.