Rubens Barrichello was being written off by the end of 2008, but he bounced back with the Brawn GP team and earned himself a shot at the championship. The Brazilian talked to Adam Cooper about an incredible 12 months

After he'd trailed around at the back of the field in Hungary a couple of years ago, Rubens Barrichello returned to the Honda motorhome to find a text message. It was from his old pal Michael Schumacher and read something along the lines of "I've just watched the race from my armchair, smoking a cigar. Have a think about it..."

The awful RA108 may well have given Barrichello some cause to consider an early retirement, but he struck around and duly reaped the benefits in 2009 when the Brawn BGP001 turned out to be a winner.

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