On the face of it, this was a good year for Rubens Barrichello, in that he won four Grands Prix and finished second in the championship – his highest ever position.

But one wonders how much genuine satisfaction the likeable Brazilian will get from the year when he looks back on it in the cold light of day.

For those victories, he finished ahead of Michael Schumacher each time – but not one of them was genuinely won.

Only at the Nurburgring, where he took his first victory of the year, could it be argued that he might have beaten his team-mate – but the impression remained even there that Schumacher would have won had he been trying his hardest.

The formation finish in the USA was clearly a misjudged attempt by Schumacher to stage a formation finish, with himself ahead.

And certainly in Hungary and Italy, Schumacher was ordered to finish second so that Barrichello could secure second place in the standings.

Any suggestions by Ferrari that this was not the case were frankly insulting to intelligence of those watching.

Not only that, but as things turned out, Barrichello would probably have finished second overall even without Schumacher’s help, such was Ferrari’s superiority.

But would it not have been all the more satisfying for all involved if he had done so on points that he had actually earned, rather than been gifted?

Only in Austria did Barrichello look like beating the world’s greatest driver – and there he was forced to give up the win, again in the name of team tactics.

On the positive side, Barrichello did a very good job in 2002.

He generally challenged Schumacher more closely than he – or anyone else - had ever done before, making him work genuinely hard for pole at a number of early-season races.

This is not to say, though, that he has become a genuine threat to Schumacher. Barrichello is the number two at Ferrari, and the number two he will remain.