Brazilian · Born 1972 · #27 Aston Martin Vantage GT3 EVO · Heart of Racing Team · GTD Class
Rubens Barrichello made 326 Formula 1 race starts — the second most in F1 history at the time of his retirement. He raced in F1 from 1993 to 2011, won 11 Grands Prix, and served as Michael Schumacher's Ferrari teammate during one of F1's most dominant eras. At 53, he is now enjoying a second racing chapter in GT cars.
Rubens Barrichello was born in São Paulo, Brazil in 1972, and became one of the most beloved and enduring figures in Formula 1 history. He made his F1 debut with the Jordan team in 1993 and stayed at the top level through 2011 — a 19-year career that spanned the turbo era's end, the Schumacher era, and the hybrid era's beginning.
His 326 F1 race starts (a record at the time of his retirement, later surpassed by Fernando Alonso) reflect extraordinary longevity. His 11 victories came with Ferrari, where he served as team leader Michael Schumacher's partner from 2000 to 2005. This role was both privilege and burden: sharing the world's best team with the world's most dominant driver meant maximum exposure but also maximum team politics. Barrichello's famously controversial moment came at the 2002 Austrian Grand Prix, when Ferrari team orders required him to yield a win he had earned — a moment that changed F1's rules on team orders.
His most celebrated victory was the 2000 German Grand Prix at Hockenheim — an emotional win he dedicated to his long-time hero Ayrton Senna, who had died six years earlier. The victory, on the circuit where Barrichello himself had a near-fatal crash in 1994, carried immense personal meaning.
After retiring from F1 following the 2011 season, Barrichello competed in various touring car and stock car series in Brazil, keeping his racing instincts sharp. His transition to GT racing — specifically the Aston Martin Vantage GT3 in IMSA — gives him a new chapter in a new country, racing machinery very different from the single-seaters he spent his career mastering.
GT3 racing rewards car control, mechanical sympathy, and strategic awareness — qualities that any veteran F1 driver possesses in abundance. At Sebring, Barrichello shares the #27 Aston Martin with Ian James and Zach Robichon in the GTD class.
At 53, Barrichello racing at Sebring is itself a story. Very few professional drivers remain competitive at that age. His fitness, enthusiasm, and the institutional knowledge of a lifetime in racing enable him to continue performing at levels that would be the ceiling for most amateur racers.
Barrichello carries the legacy of Brazilian motorsport on his shoulders — a nation that produced Emerson Fittipaldi, Nelson Piquet, and the incomparable Ayrton Senna. Following in those footsteps was never easy, but Barrichello carved his own identity: not a champion, but one of F1's most consistent, reliable, and beloved long-serving competitors. In Brazil, he is a national hero — and his continued racing at Sebring in 2026 is a source of enormous pride for Brazilian motorsport fans.
Michael Schumacher won five consecutive World Championships from 2000–2004 while Barrichello was his Ferrari teammate. The partnership won enormous success for the team — including the 2004 season, where Ferrari won 15 of 18 races — but raised difficult questions about team orders and driver equality. Barrichello's grace in handling those situations, while still winning races and scoring points consistently, earned him enormous respect globally.
GTD is IMSA's GT3 class with a pro-am driver requirement — at least one driver must hold a Bronze or Silver FIA driver rating. For Barrichello, a Platinum-rated former F1 driver, sharing the car with amateur co-drivers means the class win will depend heavily on his contribution. His driving stint quality can be the difference between a podium and a midfield result in the GTD battle.