Ex-Brawn GP driver Rubens Barrichello has said that Ross Brawn and his team should have "fought" to keep hold of his two drivers from the title-winning 2009 season, after both he and Jenson Button moved on from the team for next season.
While Barrichello's move to Williams was announced before the end of the season and didn't come as a major shock to too many people, 2009 champion Button's departure to the McLaren team was more of a shock, and one that leaves the reigning constructors champions with a few issues driver-wise.
Nico Rosberg has been signed to drive one of the newly-renamed Mercedes GP cars for 2010, but the identity of his team mate is still a mystery, with former BMW dullard Nick Heidfeld the most likely candidate to get it.
And Barrichello said that Brawn should have done more to keep him and Button with the team for 2010, saying that had he been in charge (Boobens GP?) he would have done more to try and retain the services of the two drivers who had scored eight wins between them in 2009.
"Honestly, if I were the owner of the Brawn team, I would have fought for the retention of the two drivers for the work that was done during the season," Barrichello said modestly to Spanish rag Diario AS, adding that: "Button's decision took me by surprise; I never imagined that he too would leave."
Despite this argument, Barrichello insisted that his own switch to Williams was taken very early on last season, saying that it had been a "childhood dream" to race for the Williams team. Barrichello will partner GP2 champion Nico Hulkenburg in the Grove-based team next season.
"My decision [to join Williams] was taken early," he explained, "It was a childhood dream to drive a Williams, so I signed the contract very rapidly."
Meanwhile, the possibility of Mercedes making a move for Robert Kubica for their second seat next year has been floated again by the same Spanish newspaper.
Although the Polish driver, who won the 2008 Canadian Grand Prix for BMW Sauber, has signed a contract with Renault for next year, the ongoing issues surrounding the French team's participation in the championship next year would give Kubica a chance to move.
According to the Spanish report, sources near to the Pole said that should Renault not show full commitment to the sport "in the coming weeks", then Kubica would be released from his 2010 contract and would be free to negotiate with other teams.
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