Rubens Barrichello’s former teammate, Pastor Maldonado, believes the Brazilian deserved to stay in the sport for at least another year with the Williams outfit.
Barrichello, after 19 season in Formula 1, lost his seat at the Grove based outfit at the end of 2011, bringing his illustrious career to a sad end.
Maldonado laments the teams decision to replace him.
“I hate that Rubens is not in the team, really, I think he deserved another year,” the Venezuelan is quoted as saying by the DPA news agency.
“I had a very good relationship with Rubens and I will do forever. He’s a great friend and a great man, we worked and fought together to improve last season, but unfortunately it was not what we expected.”
Meanwhile, McLaren’s Jenson Button, also a former teammate of Barrichello’s whilst at Honda and Brawn GP, added: “The saddest thing is that we could not celebrate his last race in Brazil.”
