Seems McLaren had talks with him after he'd already signed for Williams.

So that's pretty clear - none of you chaps consider Rubens a #2, right?

http://tinyurl.com/ybwtdwu

http://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=es&tl=en&u=http%3A%2F%
2Fwww.thef1.com%2Fnoticias%2Fnoticias-2009%2Fnoviembre-2009%2Frubens-
barrichello-rechazo-a-mclaren-por-williams

--
CatharticF1

"What you thought was freedom is just greed."

On Nov 6, 5:15*am, CatharticF1 <rasf1pos... (AT) gmail (DOT) com> wrote:
Are you trying to have a serious discussion or are you trying to have
another dig at those of us who don't fall to the ground and have
heavenly visions when we hear the word "Ferrari"?

There are several things that strike me about this story
1) Rubens signed for Williams some time before it was announced. So
the announcement of that signing was carefully controlled. But why?
Your speculations in a hat please.

2) The talks were either very short or very long. In the second
scenario Rubens could have let himself been wined and dined and flown
all over the place and then say "Oh... didn't I tell you about the
contract I've signed with Williams?" and watch the faces.

3) Given that it was supposedly this years Worst Kept Secret in F1
(TM) it would seem that McLaren either didn't pay attention to the WKS
or hadn't heard it.

4) Rubens must be kicking himself. He'd have a better chance of
success in a McLaren than in a Williams.

Bob Dubery <megapode (AT) gmail (DOT) com> wrote in
news:6558df88-33af-41ec-846f-3dc134168738 (AT) 15g2000yqy (DOT) googlegroups.com:

Serious discussion - please!
(It's very hard to get some things discussed)

There's quiet typically a delay on these things, could be a number of
reasons, maybe he was holding out for Brawn and his contract was
conditional on that falling through. What's your suspicion?

From what we can tell of Rubens though, he's not that kind of guy.

Well if they didn't know it were final they would likely have assumed
that he'd prefer McLaren to Williams. And possibly he would have.

Uh huh, but maybe his perception doesn't match ours. I expect Williams a
little more politic neutral.

--
CatharticF1

"What you thought was freedom is just greed."

CatharticF1 wrote:
I'm not 100% sure I get the point. Are you saying an approach from McLaren
for 2010 means the driver is only a #2 standard?

--
Chad

On Nov 6, 2:15*pm, CatharticF1 <rasf1pos... (AT) gmail (DOT) com> wrote:
Get serious !
Rubins would never ever sign with McLaren.
That is just silly.

beers,
build

"Chad" <cbstun (AT) safemail (DOT) com> wrote in news:4af3a0e7 (AT) news (DOT) x-privat.org:

No - I'm not saying an _approach_ means he's a number 2. More that the
unkind view of Rubens when he was at Ferrari was that. So I'm wondering if
that view has changed and if not what it indicates.

--
CatharticF1

"What you thought was freedom is just greed."

On Nov 6, 6:45*am, CatharticF1 <rasf1pos... (AT) gmail (DOT) com> wrote:
Well that's what he was. You didn't see Schumacher being told to pull
over to let Rubens win.

Schumacher got special treatment at Ferrari, even if that meant
reigning in whoever his teammate was and irrespective of what was in
anybody's contract. Some might say that's understandable, I might be
amongst them, though I thought that what happened at the A1-ring was
going too far.

So it's not unkind to suggest that Rubens, or Irvine for that matter,
was a number 2 driver at Ferrari. It's just stating the obvious.


So I'm wondering if

Bob Dubery <megapode (AT) gmail (DOT) com> wrote in news:7d4e33d4-423f-43b7-9785-
0630224f3cc3 (AT) j24g2000yqa (DOT) googlegroups.com:

OK - to extrapolate then. McLaren presumably wanted him to play the same
role for Lewis..?

--
CatharticF1

"What you thought was freedom is just greed."

On 6 nov, 04:15, CatharticF1 <rasf1pos... (AT) gmail (DOT) com> wrote:
It's too put pressure on Kimi not to demand too much money if you knew
anything about doing business. Everybody knows that, so why can't you?

http://ferrarif1forum.com/2009/10/29/exclusive-ferrari-f2010-f61-preview/

Rubens would make a fine #2 at Ferrari.

"After the disappointing 2009 season Ferrari is willing to re-install
a system that is similar to that of the Schumacher era a policy
Ferrari have been both loved and criticized for – both for leaving and
implementing. Everything will be built around one superstar. Will let
you debate on who that is going to be but it’s not hard to imagine. "

So Ferrari is going to focus 100% on Alonso while Massa is getting
screwed over. Seems Rubens would fit excellent there.

"CatharticF1" <rasf1poster (AT) gmail (DOT) com> wrote

I don't think so, Rubens made it clear a number of times today he would not
play the #2 driver again and I don't think even the McLaren bosses are daft
enough to try and employ him in that role.