The number on Barrichello's car was changed to 257 in Istanbul to celebrate his special achievement, but
Honda CEO Nick Fry was cagey when pressed as to how much longer ‘Rubinho' – as he is affectionately nicknamed within the
F1 paddock – would be staying with the Japanese concern. His current contract expires at the end of the 2008 campaign, and he has not now scored a point in the top flight since the end of 2006 – stretching back some 23 races – whilst in the same period Button has notched up nine.
Barrichello did finish seventh on the road in the season curtain-raiser at Melbourne this year, but was subsequently disqualified for having passed through a red light in the pit-lane during the grand prix.
“Rubens is very aware of the situation,” Fry underlined, “and I don't think he would want it any other way. When I hired Rubens, in one conversation I made a mistake and complimented him on his experience. He said: ‘I don't want to be experienced, I want to be fast'.
“Rubens wants to be fast and if he is fast, he'll be here next year. If he's not fast, he won't. It's as simple as that.
“I see no signs of Rubens wanting to retire whatsoever. He wants to carry on as long as he's enjoying it and as long as he's quick enough and at the moment he is.
“In common with most of the teams, we monitor the performance of the drivers on a race-by-race basis in lots of different respects. Over the last 18 months, although we haven't got anything like the results we would have liked to have got, he is nip-and-tuck with Jenson.
“After that many years of grand prix racing, to retain your enthusiasm and still be that quick is extremely impressive. He's a real person, not someone superficial or who tries to skim over things. You get it from the heart.”
As to what the future holds, Fry added that it was early days yet, but insisted that any discussions would take place when the time was right.
