Rubens Barrichello fears Nico Rosberg will play second fiddle to Michael Schumacher

Date published : 02 Feb 2010 - 11:04:26

Barrichello spent six seasons at Ferrari alongside Schumacher, from 2000-2005, and has mixed emotions about his time at the Scuderia, where he was consistently asked to play the No 2 role. Asked if he had any advice for Rosberg, Barrichello was only half joking when he replied: "Yeah. Get out of there! That is the only thing I can tell him. He needs to drive fast and don't crash: Ross [Brawn, Mercedes team principal] will always tell you that before the race." Schumacher went third quickest on Monday, the first day of winter testing for the new 2010 machines and the German's first day in a current Formula One car for over three years. And afterwards the 41 year-old dismissed concerns about his longstanding neck injury saying instead that he felt 'like a little child with a new toy' in the Mercedes W01. Barrichello, now racing for Williams after leaving Brawn's team just prior to their takeover by Mercedes-Benz last November, said he could see signs of the old Schumacher returning and appeared to suggest that Brawn might favour the veteran as he did when they were at Ferrari. "He [Nico] is a great talent and I wish him all the best, and maybe tomorrow you will see the newspapers saying, 'Rubens tells Nico to get out of there', but I am not being bad about it," the Brazilian said. "Knowing what I know, and seeing how fast Michael went today, it is going to be a tough job. I wish him all the best because I think he is a talented boy who can be world champion. 'If he has the chances of being world champion in the same team as Michael, then he can be world champion anywhere. Let's put it this way." For the second day running, Ferrari's Felipe Massa set the early pace at the Ricardo Tormo circuit. By late morning, the Brazilian's F10 led from the BMW-Sauber of Kamui Kobayashi. Rosberg was running third quickest in his Mercedes, with McLaren's 2008 world champion Lewis Hamilton fourth fastest on his first outing in the new MP4-25.