Rob Smedley shares ‘most awful experience’ with 68-podium driver in a Formula 1 car

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Former Ferrari and Williams engineer Rob Smedley has admitted that he was absolutely terrified while being driven around in a Formula 1 car by Rubens Barrichello.

Smedley was Felipe Massa’s race engineer at Ferrari for eight seasons before going to Williams as their head of vehicle performance.

However, speaking on the Formula For Success Podcast, Smedley has recounted a terrifying experience with his Brazilian colleague.

Smedley admits Barrichello scared him in Formula 1 car

Rob Smedley’s time in Formula 1 saw him work with some of the best drivers in modern F1.

He’s worked alongside Michael Schumacher and Fernando Alonso and previously talked about the difference between the two world champions.

Smedley is a big fan of the Spaniard and shared ahead of the 2024 season the huge advantage he believes he has over the rest of the grid.

The 50-year-old was also in the paddock at the time of Nelson Piquet Jr’s infamous crash in Singapore that affected Felipe Massa’s title challenge that year.

However, Smedley has been speaking about the time he was driving in a Formula 1 car with Rubens Barrichello.

The Brazilian is best known for his spell as Michael Schumacher’s teammate but was an incredibly successful driver in his own right.

The raced over 320 times in F1, winning 11 races and finishing on the podium 68 times.

Barrichello enjoyed terrifying Smedley

Speaking about his experience with the Brazilian, Smedley said: “I’ve been in a Formula 1 car a few times in the three-seater at Fiorano and it’s not my cup of tea, that’s understating it.

“I was nearly sick, Felipe Massa drove me around and Rubens [Barrichello] as well, they drove me around and it was just f—— awful, I mean it was the most awful experience I’ve had in all my life.

“We had this dead man’s button and I said no I don’t want to do it, and it was when Rubens was leaving and going to Honda, and I said, ‘If I release the button will you stop?’ and he said, ‘Yeah, because there’s a really annoying beep in my ear’.

“If you held it down and released it, it would beep in the driver’s ears. Anyway, I jumped in the car and said, ‘Please don’t scare me because I know I talk a good game but I’m not very brave’.

“And he shot out the garage at Fiorano and halfway down the straight to turn one I released it and I was going, ‘Stop, stop!’ and he continued to do three laps, and I could hear him manically laughing.

“And then we stopped and I got out and honestly I was punch-drunk and I said, ‘Why didn’t you stop, wasn’t the beeping annoying?’ and he said, ‘No, because I got them to disconnect it!’”

Barrichello still going strong in racing

While Barrichello is no longer driving in Formula 1 terrifying Rob Smedley in a three-seater car, he is still racing.

The 2024 Stock Car Pro Series started on 3 March with Barrichello driving alongside his son Eduardo ‘Dudu’ Barrichello.

Rubens Barrichello is currently seventh in that championship, one place behind Felipe Massa.

To still be driving at a good level at 51 years old shows how much he loves racing.

F1 is once again missing a Brazilian driver on the grid with the legacy left by Barrichello and Massa yet to be followed up on.

Felipe Drugovich is waiting in the wings at Aston Martin, while Gabriel Bortoleto has just started his first campaign in Formula 2 with the backing of McLaren.