300

No, I'm not talking about the movie. Barrichello is about to start his 300th grand prix weekend of his career. Well, the weekend of the San Marino Grand Prix in 1994 (yes, the fateful one in the Senna family's life), he didn't start the race because of injury. Other than that, he's been ever-present in the paddock.

AT&T Williams marked the occasion by hosting a reception for him in their motorhome last evening. Most of the paddock showed up, according to the Williams twitter feed (by my count, "most" = 12. Still, that is 52% of the grid, if one excludes Barrichello, since he was going to be there anyway). Notable absences included Michael Schumacher, although he did text Rubens to apologise for giving him the impression that he was trying to run him into the wall in Hungary. Aparently, driving him into the wall was not an attempt to do him harm or end his race, it was just defensive driving (although, my dad, who spent his Zimbabwean national service in the police, has a different definition of defensive driving). Rubens, in true Rubens style, had a wee cry.

The Brazilian Mafia, expectedly, was well represented at the party (photo credit to Claire, the PR officer for the Williams team), with Massa, Di Grassi and Senna all stopping by to say "parabéns" to their countryman (and, yes, The Blue Embratel Cap made an appearance too). I wish the delightfully likeable Brazilian all the best for this weekend! May it not be like David Coulthard's last grand prix!


Edit to add: Unfortunately, Rubens' race was a little too reminiscent of DC's final performance. However, I did won a 300 commemorative t-shirt in the competition he held. Photo will follow when it arrives.