Rubens Barrichello believes the damage done to his front wing in first-corner contact in Abu Dhabi meant he suffered from a lack of optimum downforce during the 55-lap race, as his attempts to finish second in the drivers’ standings fizzled out.
The Brazilian veteran lost a front-wing endplate after tagging the back of Mark Webber’s Red Bull going into the first corner, and dropped to fourth later round the opening lap after being passed by team-mate Jenson Button.
And while his pace stayed competitive enough to run close to Button in the middle stint and finish in a solid fourth place, he reckons his damaged BGP 001 wasn’t quite as quick as it could have been.
“I’ve lost quite a chunk of my front wing on the first lap,” he said.
“I was very competitive so the team decided not to change [the wing], but I’m sure I was losing a lot of downforce with that.
[I was] Still competitive but unfortunately even being faster than Jenson on the middle stint it is very difficult to overtake a competitor, plus it is your team-mate which is a car that is very similar so there is nothing I could have done.”
Although Sebastian Vettel’s resounding victory meant the German easily did enough to clinch the runner-up position to Button in the standings, Barrichello says he still enjoyed the inaugural race on the Yas Marina circuit even if it was physically gruelling.
“I did enjoy [the circuit],” he said.
“It is always fun. It was quite a physical race, [but] I’m still okay so I still smiling.”
The season-ending race was set to be the 37-year-old’s Brawn swansong, with a move to Williams expected to be confirmed on Monday.
But although his impending move to Grove is an open secret in the paddock, asked if this was his final race for the team, Barrichello remained tight-lipped, simply saying: “We shall see.”