Vettel and Barrichello drove Schumacher’s Ferrari F2002 at Monza

Rubens Barrichello returned to the Ferrari F2002 before Sebastian Vettel took over the championship-winning car, as Monza celebrated Michael Schumacher’s extraordinary legacy.

Formula 1’s Italian Grand Prix weekend took place at Monza, where Ferrari staged an emotional tribute to seven-time world champion Michael Schumacher.

Rubens Barrichello and Sebastian Vettel both drove the Ferrari F2002, one of the most successful cars of Schumacher’s career. Barrichello took to the track on Saturday afternoon, while Vettel drove the same V10-powered machine shortly before Sunday’s Italian Grand Prix.

Barrichello reunited with the Ferrari F2002

For Barrichello, the demonstration represented a reunion with a particularly significant car. The Brazilian raced alongside Schumacher at Ferrari from 2000 to 2005 and won the 2002 Italian Grand Prix in an F2002, leading his teammate home in a memorable Ferrari one-two.

Barrichello won the Italian Grand Prix at Monza three times during his Formula 1 career. His first two victories came with Ferrari in 2002 and 2004, before he returned to the top step of the podium with Brawn GP in 2009.

The F2002 itself remains one of Ferrari’s most successful Formula 1 cars. Introduced during the 2002 season, it helped Ferrari secure both the Constructors’ Championship and the Drivers’ Championship. Schumacher produced an extraordinary campaign, finishing on the podium in all 17 Grands Prix that season, a feat that remains unmatched. He secured his third consecutive title for Ferrari with several rounds still remaining.

The combination of Schumacher, Barrichello and the F2002 helped establish one of the most dominant periods in Ferrari’s Formula 1 history. Its naturally aspirated V10 engine also ensured that the car’s return to the track at Monza provided a very different sound from that of the modern Formula 1 machinery.

Vettel honours his childhood hero

Sebastian Vettel’s appearance provided another direct connection with Schumacher. The four-time world champion grew up regarding his fellow German as a childhood hero before later developing a personal friendship with him.

Vettel, who raced for Ferrari between 2015 and 2020, described driving Schumacher’s F2002 as an emotional experience. The appearance brought together two generations of German Ferrari drivers in front of the Tifosi at a circuit where both enjoyed memorable moments during their careers.

According to Formula 1, Vettel viewed the demonstration as an opportunity to remember both Schumacher the racing driver and the friend he came to know during his own Formula 1 career.

Thirty years since Schumacher joined Ferrari

The Monza programme marked 30 years since Schumacher joined Ferrari in 1996 and 20 years since his final victory for the team, achieved at the 2006 Chinese Grand Prix.

Schumacher won five consecutive Drivers’ Championships with Ferrari between 2000 and 2004 and played a central role in transforming the team into the dominant force of that era. He also recorded five Italian Grand Prix victories for Ferrari at Monza, winning in 1996, 1998, 2000, 2003 and 2006.

Ferrari extended the tribute across the race weekend, with elements of Schumacher’s history with the team also incorporated into the presentation of its current Formula 1 operation.

The Barrichello family connection

Another personal element accompanied Barrichello’s return to the cockpit. Rubens’ demonstration helmet incorporated elements of the design used by his son, Fernando Barrichello, creating a father-and-son connection during the Schumacher celebration.

Fernando also wore a special helmet during the Formula 3 weekend at Monza. Its design combined the green, yellow and blue associated with Fernando with the red, white and blue pattern made famous by his father. It provided a visual link between his own developing motorsport career and the racing legacy he grew up with.

Fernando was announced as a CryptoProcessing brand ambassador in 2025. He is continuing the Barrichello name in international single-seater racing and competed for AIX Racing in the 2026 FIA Formula 3 Championship.

Three generations of racing history at Monza

At Monza, those different chapters of the Barrichello and Schumacher stories came together around one of Ferrari’s most successful Formula 1 cars.

The return of the F2002 was more than a historic demonstration. It reunited Schumacher’s former teammate with a car from Ferrari’s dominant era, placed a four-time world champion who grew up idolising Schumacher behind its wheel and connected those memories with a new generation of the Barrichello racing family.

More than two decades after the F2002 competed at Monza, the sight and sound of the Ferrari V10 back on the circuit offered the Tifosi a reminder of an era that remains one of the defining periods in Formula 1 history.

About the author

Leopold

Leopold Pleijsier founded F1-Fansite.com in 2001 and has followed Formula 1 since the early 1980s. He writes about daily F1 news, race weekends, drivers and the sport’s history.

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