Barrichello's homecoming

Barrichello has not got a good home record

BBC motor racing correspondent Jonathan Legard watches the boy from Brazil.

Third in Australia and second in Malaysia, Rubens Barrichello is aiming to take his Ferrari to the top in Brazil this weekend.

The 28-year-old is determined to shine in front of his home crowd in Sao Paulo despite what he sees as Ferrari favouritism towards Michael Schumacher.

"Right now I have a difficult task to race against Michael and to race on the same team where he is the favourite," he said.

"It's not easy but I feel I'm doing well and even though Michael is a little bit ahead, I can always win the race."

There used to be a lot of pressure on me but now I play like you play soccer - when you play at home, you play better

  Rubens Barrichello

"I'm self confident. I feel I'm much tougher on mind management, an area where people said I wasn't."

"I always told the Brazilian people that when I had a good car, I would perform. The 2001 car suits me much more than last year's. This is my chance," he declared.

After just one finish in eight home starts, Barrichello's enthusiasm deserves reward.

Ferrari and Schumacher will have their own views on the Brazilian's statement of intent, especially after his criticism of the champion at the last race in Malaysia.

Barrichello described the German's move past him in the wet as "sad".

"A team-mate should just stay composed and wait for some chances up front," he said as he followed him home in second.

The pair are set to talk through the incident with technical director, Ross Brawn before wheels turn in anger at the weekend.

But rather like the first two races, there's one likely winner.

Schumacher's form is awesome. Pole and victory in each of the last six races.

And he's behind the wheel of a car that seems able to leave the rest of the grid standing at will.

Schumacher has Ferrari favouritism

Two engine failures in Barcelona testing last week might offer rivals some crumbs of comfort, but surely not enough for a weekend feast over the bumps of Interlagos.

McLaren have all but conceded defeat until next month by revealing there won't be massive improvements before the fourth race at Imola.

And you don't need to be David Coulthard or Mika Hakkinen to understand that by then it could be too late.

Ferrari's critics can whisper and cast aspersions for all they're worth about traction control - which they are doing - but the harsh reality is that for once the Italian team has done its homework to perfection.

"We have an engine system which does its job better than anyone else's," said Ross Brawn last week.

He also admitted, not surprisingly, that he would love to win all 17 races this season.

Talk about a red rag!

McLaren would love to be bullish for Brazil but the present doesn't promise the standards of the past.

Williams and Jordan, by contrast, are fuelled by optimism once more.

Ralf Schumacher in qualifying and Heinz-Harald Frentzen in race trim have been thoroughly impressive so far, and Frentzen has been third in Brazil for the last two years.

Button got his first points in Brazil

Could this be the race Juan Pablo Montoya has the luck to break his F1 duck?

Remember, this was the place where Jenson Button wrote his Williams into the record books as the youngest points scorer in Grand Prix history.

Will Jacques Villeneuve earn the chance to unleash his BAR-Honda for a full race distance after two retirements?

Was Jos Verstappen's startling performance in Malaysia freakish or suggestive of more to come?

After just five laps in two races, his Arrows team-mate, Enrique Bernoldi, needs to hope that it is the latter.

Otherwise some searching questions will be asked more publicly about Johnny Herbert's role as test driver.

Schumacher will command top billing, but Rubens Barrichello is not alone in wanting to make a difference.