According to Rubens Barrichello, his Formula 1 career was ended when he was at the peak of his powers.

Barrichello won 11 grands prix across his Formula 1 career which featured stints with Jordan, Stewart, Ferrari, Honda, Brawn and Williams, making a total of 322 starts. Nine of those wins came at Ferrari with the final two achieved at Brawn, though Barrichello does not believe he ever fell from his peak.

Williams needed ‘money’ and dropped Rubens Barrichello

Barrichello’s final team in Formula 1 proved to be Williams, the Brazilian departing after the 2011 campaign, though he did not feel ready to make his F1 exit at that point, nor was it the plan.

While speaking on the Beyond the Grid podcast, Barrichello claimed that he was at his peak with Williams, but for financial reasons, the team ripped up his deal for 2012, with Bruno Senna brought in to partner Pastor Maldonado.

2012 saw Williams switch from Cosworth to Renault power with a far more competitive season following – which Barrichello knew would happen – the team scoring 76 points compared to five in 2011.

“I was still at my peak when I finished at Williams,” he said.

“Unfortunately, Williams at that time, they didn’t have someone who would stand up and say, ‘We should do this, come down here’. There was too many people owning the team and they need money.

“So, I was contracted for 2012, which was a car that I devoted so much… It was so much better with the Mercedes [sic] engine. And all of a sudden I had a call saying that I wasn’t on the car, but I was still at my peak at that time.”

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Fernando Alonso [43] and Lewis Hamilton [nearing 40] are serving to prove age is just a number in extending their respective F1 careers, Alonso racing with Aston Martin as the arrival of F1 design guru Adrian Newey looms, while Hamilton has embarked on a fresh career chapter with Ferrari.

And Barrichello quipped that he is still F1-ready if Aston Martin decided they wanted a new team-mate for Alonso, the most experienced F1 driver of all-time.

“If he comes to me now and says ‘I want you to be my team-mate at Aston’, I’ll still be ready!” Barrichello joked.

“What I love about Alonso is the fact that you look in his eyes and he still loves it.

“That’s what I tell my boys: ‘You have problems, and you will have bigger ones, but it depends how much is here [in the heart].

“If you like it, or you see you love it, you solve every problem possible. So if you love it, and you keep fit, [you will be successful].”

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