Blundell: 'Barrichello doing a remarkable job'.

Top F1 pundit, ITV Mark Blundell has been speaking exclusively to Crash.net about one of the most interesting things happening in F1 this year, namely the fact that so far this season Michael Scuhmacher has been outqualified three times by his team-mate Rubens Barrichello and he has also been outdriven by him in the race on more than one occasion this year.

"I just think that Rubens is very much at home with the environment of the car he's driving" Blundell told Crash.net. "It shows quite significantly that the car suits his style. He doesn't seem to be fighting the car at all, he looks to be at one with it and it's just something which is playing into his hands and hopefully that's given him more and more self confidence and that seems to be showing. I think he's had some outstanding races in terms of driving. From a driver's point of view I think he can reflect on what he's done throughout the Grand Prix, especially coming from the back on a couple of occasions and I think he's done a remarkable job. The fact of the matter is there's still a pecking order within his environment and that's still evident in what we've seen in the course of the year."

Barrichello has outqualifyed Schumacher an unprecedented three times this season. Barrichello started the season the way he wanted to continue by outqualifying Schumacher at the first race at Albert Park. The qualifying session for the Australian season opener was Barrichello speciality weather, rain. All his previous poles, one for Jordan at Spa in 1994, one for Stewart in France in 1999 and then his sole previous Ferrari pole in Great Britain in 2000 were also in the wet. The Austrian Grand Prix this year showed that he could also set pole in the dry, and also that, when given chance, he could beat Michael Schumacher fair and square in a race. Of course the situation at Ferrari is not fair and square for Barrichello so, showing great dignity, he obeyed his team orders and let Schumacher take the win.

At the last race in Silverstone, Barrichello was once more ahead of Schumacher on the grid, and it remains to be seen what can be done in France. "If you are there or thereabouts, or even ahead on occasion with one of the best drivers ever then that can only be a boost" says former F1 and CART driver Blundell.

Barrichello's performances have lead some to say that Schumacher must be thinking it's time for him to hang up his racing boots, after all, once he's wrapped up his fifth world championship what else does he have to prove? Schumacher's old sparring partner Damon Hill is certainly of the opinion that Rubens' performance has been getting to Schumacher and that the German should call it a day. "I don't think Michael Schumacher is going to be affected too much," counters Blundell, "I think he looks at it in quite a positive fashion because it keeps him very much in check. Yes, we've seen it happen a couple of times where he's given it his last shot and it hasn't worked out, Schumacher is not mistake free, he's made mistakes and he's made some errors and we've seen that."

"But, when it counts on race day there isn't much to be done." Blundell continues, "When he's in that car and the green lights have gone off you can pretty much put your insurance policy on the result that you'll see from him at the end"