Vettel and Barrichello set for Ferrari reunion in Monza demo run

Sebastian Vettel and Rubens Barrichello are set to be reunited with Ferrari at the Italian Grand Prix, taking in a demo run in a Ferrari F2002.

Both drivers are set to take in a celebratory lap at Monza in one of Ferrari’s most successful cars, with the team honouring the driving legacy of Michael Schumacher this weekend.

Sebastian Vettel and Rubens Barrichello set to drive legendary Ferrari

Ferrari revealed a Schumacher-inspired tribute livery for this weekend, combining the colour scheme of the 1996 F310 with Schumacher’s personal logo and the seven stars on the nosecone, marking each of his seven Drivers’ titles.

Barrichello, who drove the F2002 alongside Schumacher in the 2002 campaign, is set to drive in a demonstration after qualifying on Saturday, while Vettel is set to take the wheel prior to the race on Sunday.

Barrichello drove with Schumacher throughout the team’s entire dominant streak of title doubles from 2000-2004, with the F2002 being the car in which Schumacher finished on every single podium on the way to his fifth Drivers’ title.

There was controversy along the way that year, with Barrichello instructed to move over on the line for his teammate at the Austrian Grand Prix in one of the sport’s most high-profile instances of team orders having been used.

Schumacher had wanted to orchestrate a dead-heat finish while leading at Indianapolis later in the year, too, with Barrichello having nudged over the line ahead at that event.

For Vettel, compatriot Schumacher was his racing idol on the way through to Formula 1, with the pair having raced on the grid as rivals between 2010 and 2012, when Schumacher was at Mercedes.

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Vettel ultimately could not replicate the same title success in his time at Ferrari from 2015 to 2020, though he went on to take 14 race victories and 55 podiums as a Ferrari driver.

The V10-powered F2002 is widely discussed among Formula 1’s greatest ever cars, with Schumacher and Barrichello having won every single race of the 2002 campaign between them.

Such was its success, too, the chassis was carried over in B-spec form to the 2003 season, taking the team through the first half of the year before a new chassis was introduced.

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