RUBENS BARRICHELLO has accused Michael Schumacher of nearly ‘sending him to heaven’ in a 200mph horror move in Hungary.
The Brazilian said: “I am lucky to be alive. It was a go-kart manoeuvre.
“If he wants to go to heaven, in the event he is going to heaven, I don’t want to go before him.
“Thank God I was lucky the wall finished where it did because I was millimetres from it.”
The flashpoint came when Barrichello claimed 10th place from the German with five laps left.
But in the push for a point, he almost ended up in the pitwall as Schuey put the squeeze on his former Ferrari team-mate. With the Williams driver attempting to pass his old rival, Barrichello came close to hitting the concrete barrier.
Stewards moved swiftly to hit Mercedes man Schumacher, 41, with a 10-place grid penalty at the Belgium GP in four weeks.
Barrichello, 38, rapped: “It was the most dangerous move against me that I’ve ever been through. It was horrible. What we want from racing is to have battles but to be fair. I said to the stewards we are two of the most experienced guys out there, and if Michael does that, it means kids can do that too. I am just very glad and very lucky we’re here to talk.”
Barrichello has had a string of run-ins with Schumacher over the years – including while they raced side-by-side at Ferrari. The Sao Paulo flier added: “He’s taking something from the past into the present and there’s no need for that. His view is I’m a big cryer. I won’t speak to him because it won’t resolve things. You know Michael. He will always feel that he is right. But I’m a just guy and justice was done in a way because he has been away for three years and he hasn’t changed a thing. He is still the same guy. What has been done to me is literally over the top.”
An insider who was trackside said, “Let’s not forget that, at times, Barrichello was instructed by Ferrari to let Schumacher win a race. Rubens Barrichello would always comply with the team, and has always acted and raced like a true professional. And let’s also not forget the times that Scumacher has “allegedly” purposely crashed into Damon Hill one year, and went on to win the championship. The man’s a cheat and he’s unprofessional”.
But Schumacher said: “There’s not much to say. I had a line of about 5cm and I was making it obvious to him to go on the other side. But he chose not to. Certain drivers have certain views, then there’s Rubens. He had fresher tyres, my job was to get the last corner spot-on. It was a hard fight and this is what we are here for, but I accept that the FIA stewards saw it as too hard.”
Ex-F1 racer Anthony Davidson said: “Any driver out there knows how dangerous that was. It could have been lethal.”
Red Bull ace Mark Webber won the race to lead Lewis Hamilton by four points in the drivers’ standings.
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