It may have taken him 7 years, but when Rubens Barrichello finally broke his Formula 1 win drought at the 2000 German Grand Prix.
In 1994, he had been seriously injured in a practice session in Imola, which left him unconscious. During that same race and the same circuit, his fellow Brazilian and legendary F1 driver, Ayrton Senna, tragically passed away.
For years, he had been instructed by Senna in Formula One, and with his passing, he had lost his mentor.
6 years later, during the German Grand Prix, he was in the 18th position and was not even in the running for any points, let alone a win. Twenty-four hours earlier, he took 18th place in the German GP qualifying stating it as the worst day of his year.
However, by Sunday afternoon, his tears of despair had changed to tears of joy as he wept with delight on the Hockenheim podium after winning his first Grand Prix.
What led to Rubens Barrichello’s path to victory
David Coulthard started from pole position alongside Michael Schumacher after setting the quickest time in qualifying. With Hakkinen and Coulthard looking set to deliver a crushing one-two for McLaren.
Given the starting order, most of Scuderia Ferrari’s expectations were directly linked to Michael Schumacher. However, the German driver collided with Benetton’s Giancarlo Fisichella right after the start and thus was forced to retire from the race.
It soon looked an easy Sunday for the McLaren duo, but no one was prepared for Barrichello’s incredible comeback. Barrichello made the greatest start of the race, jumping from 18th to 10th after the end of the first lap. However, there was more drama in store for him.
The Brazilian had made his way through the pack into fifth place by lap six. When a protester burst onto the track, forcing a safety car. Which moved Barrichello up to third behind Hakkinen and Truli.
Trulli was then given a penalty which led to Barrichello’s path to victory truly opening up thanks to it starting to rain.
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Rubens Barrichello honoured Ayrton Senna for his first win
While Barrichello continued to race on slick tires, Hakkinen went inside for wet-weather tires. This meant that Hakkinen gained in the wet segments while Barrichello surged ahead again during the dry segments.
Which led to Barrichello storming across the finish line to take a dramatic and unlikely victory. This was the first win for a Brazilian driver since Ayrton Senna in 1993 at Adelaide.
But doubly emotional, since Senna had passed away at Imola in 1994. Barrichello honoured Ayrton Senna, who had supported him during the early stages of his racing career, by dedicating his victory to him.
While Michael Schumacher and his wife, Corinna Schumacher, watched from the paddock and cheered on his team-mate. In fact, he was the first one to congratulate the Brazilian driver when he came into the parking.
The celebrations were also a real tear-jerker, with Barrichello unable to hide his emotions as he wept with joy. Even during the podium ceremony, he could not control his tears as the Brazilian national anthem played while holding onto his nation’s flag.
