Formula One news

Barrichello pleased with 'strong' start

Rubens Barrichello was more than happy to finish runner-up to team-mate Jenson Button in the Australian Grand Prix. The Brazilian spent his race making up time following a terrible start, which saw him sink to seventh place.

Rubens was in awe of the strength of his robust car's bodywork as well the BGP 001's overall performance: "Strong? Very strong!" he jokingly said in the post-race press conference. "Today I've been hit from behind and hit somebody in front! It was a tough race for me and I never thought I would finish on the podium after the start."

The Brazilian's car bogged down significantly as the red lights went out, with Rubens doing an excellent job to keep the engine running: "After the initial start I hit the anti stall button and the car went into neutral so I recovered quickly, but lost pace. I then got hit at the first corner by a McLaren, and hit somebody really hard sideways." Barrichello's car, carrying less momentum after his near-stall, had been hit by Heikki Kovalainen which pushed the Brawn into Mark Webber's Red Bull, who then hit the BMW of Heidfeld.

"I think the car survived quite well but for the first stint my nose was falling apart," Rubens continued. "I lost braking stability when I hit Kimi - he closed door at Turn 3 and I couldn't avoid it. I had mixed emotions during the race but it was fantastic - I started second, so could only hope for one better, but after the start I'm delighted to be here."

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