NOVEMBER 15, 1999

Barrichello at Maranello

RUBENS BARRICHELLO paid a visit to the Ferrari headquarters in Maranello last week to meet the major players in the team and have a seat fitting. The Brazilian is expected to begin testing for the Italian team in early December. The visit gave Ferrari boss Luca di Montezemolo the opportunity to explain that Barrichello joins Ferrari with equal number one status to Michael Schumacher. Rumors suggest that Barrichello refused to sign a Ferrari contract unless he was given that status.

"He should not be a servant for Schumacher," said Montezemolo. "I expect him to spur on Schumacher. Barrichello is level with him for now, and as the season develops, we'll see."

Schumacher says that he is not worried about the situation as it is the performance on the race track which dictates who is a team's number one driver.