Ferrari president Luca Di Montezemolo has delivered a pep talk to driver Rubens Barrichello, subtly warning him to get his act together in the upcoming 2002-championship season. Rubens made comments last year after he was forced to move over for teammate Michael Schumacher and hand him second place in the Austrian GP, publicly airing the fact that he was far from pleased that he was forced to give up his position on the track.
Then last month, Barrichello said that his undistinguished record since joining the Italian team was because the outfit devoted its efforts to helping four-time world champion Schumacher at his expense. Rubens has only claimed one victory since joining Ferrari and that was at the 2000 German GP. However, di Montezemolo said that if Barrichello improves things this season, then he couldn't see any reason to change drivers for 2003.
"If he takes a step forward in his relationship with the team and Schumacher then I don't see why we would change.” di Montezemolo told the Corriere della Sera newspaper. “There are not many drivers on the market capable of driving a Ferrari."
Ifrån PlanetF1:
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in an interview in the Corriere della Sera newspaper.
He has also issued veiled warnings, both to Ferrari race driver Rubens Barrichello and to F1 supemo Bernie Ecclestone in the same article.
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On the recent complaints by Barrichello that his undistinguished record since joining Ferrari was largely because the team devoted most of its energies to their four-time world champion, Michael Schumacher, Di Montezomlo rebuked: "Unless he (Barichello) takes a step forward in his relationship with the stable and with Schumacher, I don't see why we would change. It's up to him."
"There are not many drivers on the market capable of driving a Ferrari," said Di Montezemolo.
Jag tycker att de där 2 notiserna har lite olika mening. I den första verkar det som om Rubens skall få behålla sin styrning 2003, om han bara förbättrar sig lite och möjligen inte får behålla den om han inte gör det. I den andra får man intrycket av att Ferrari inte kommer att ändra sig angående sitt relativa stöd till de båda förarna, om inte Rubens ändrar sin attityd och/eller samverkan med teamet och Schumi (putsar skorna bättre, springer ärenden, o.s.v.

Hur som helst är det nog ett ödesår för Rubens i år, om han inte förbättrar sig och ändå vill vara kvar 2003, så blir det nog att öka smörandet...
