SPA-FRANCORCHAMPS, Belgium (AP) Rubens Barrichello enters his record 300th Formula One race at the Belgian Grand Prix with his best starting position this season and Michael Schumacher in his rear view mirror on the track and off of it.
The 38-year-old Barrichello qualified seventh for Sunday's 44-lap race, where variable conditions leave the Williams driver believing he can perform well at a track he's finished on the podium twice before.
Barrichello has raced in more than a third of the sport's 832 races since 1950, but most remember him playing second fiddle to Schumacher at Ferrari. At the 2002 Austrian GP, Ferrari ordered Barrichello to give up victory to Schumacher on the final stretch.
Schumacher qualified 11th Saturday but will drop 10 places for nearly forcing Barrichello into a wall at high speed at the preceding Hungarian GP. But even that doesn't provide any extra satisfaction for Barrichello.
``My aim is to finish as high as I can for the team. Michael is not my biggest ambition,'' Barrichello said. ``I think it created a situation after the overtaking. I don't care who it was I would have (allowed) the overtaking whoever it was.''
For Barrichello's father, that memory was the most painful of all right alongside crashes such as the near-death one in San Marino in 1994, where Ayrton Senna would lose his life.
``His first victory was the most special moment, as well as last year's title challenge with Brawn was very emotional especially after all the problems he had with Ferrari,'' Rubens Sr. said from Spa.
The Sao Paulo native has won 11 races since his debut in South Africa in 1993. But even that doesn't mean he has a leg up on any other drivers when it comes to taking on the changing conditions in Spa.
``We definitely never see everything, and in Spa it's also difficult to say I've been there and seen it because everything can change,'' Barrichello said. ``I don't think I need to hope I just need to be open for any situation.
``Whenever I see rain, I smile. It's not an advantage but an opportunity.''
Barrichello who also drove for Jordan, Stewart Ford and Honda has been making an effort to jot down his memories from as far back as his go-karting days to when he challenged teammate and eventual champion Jenson Button last season.
``It's a good story from a family that had a very tight budget to be here celebrating 300 Grands Prix is quite an achievement,'' said Barrichello, who twice finished runner-up to seven-time champion Schumacher in six years with Ferrari.
``The best thing is I got used to every change. If I've (ever) had to change styles, I've done it.''
Rubens Sr. said his son was born to race cars.
``We always hoped he'd get into Formula One, so to get to this tally you have to be so happy and proud as he's become an indisputable figure in Formula One, and a competitive one,'' Rubens Snr. said.
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