Ruben Barrichello takes win at the European Grand Prix in Valencia

Rubens Barrichello has taken Victory at the European Grand Prix in Valenica. This was the first win for the 37 year old Barrichello, in almost five years. His last win was at the Chinese Grand Prix in 2004 with his former team, Ferrari. This is his 10th career win. He is the oldest regular driver in the series, and has the record for most races run, for a total of 281 starts since his Formula one racing debut in 1993.

The win puts him in second place in the championship, 23 points behind his team mate Jenson button. He dedicated his win to his fellow countryman Felipe Massa, who was injured in a crash last month and is recovering from a fractured skull. Barrichello stated that he felt bad because it was a piece of his car that had caused the accident, striking Massa in the head at almost 200mph. He also dedicated his win to his country, Brazil. He was very emotional and cried while taking his wind down lap.

Barrichello started third on the grid behind Hamilton and Kovalainen, but had the fastest qualifying times after fuel correction. He took the lead from Lewis Hamilton after a pit stop error on lap 37 delayed the reigning world champion a crucial five seconds. Hamilton’s team was not ready for him to pit, and as a result was left waiting for the crew to get the tires ready. The team estimates while it cost five seconds, it did not cost him the race. Statistics show that Barrichello was a couple of seconds faster and would have pulled off the win regardless of the length of the pit stop. Barrichello won the race by 2.3 seconds.