Brawn GP Racing Team

2006–2008: Honda

Barrichello at the 2006 Canadian GP

In August 2005 he announced that he would be leaving Ferrari at the end of the year to join Honda.

Barrichello's lucky number is "11," which was the number his kart bore when he won his first race. In the 2006 Formula One season, his new teammate Jenson Button gave Barrichello the number for his car in goodwill. Barrichello was initially outpaced by Button, and claimed that the car did not suit his driving style, particularly in its braking style. After modifications to the car he was able to be more competitive. At the 2006 Monaco Grand Prix, he nearly got his first podium with the team, but then he was given a drive-through penalty for speeding in the pit lane and finished fourth. Though he lost a podium, it was the best result at the Monaco Grand Prix for Honda (as a team) or any Japanese team. For the race Barrichello exchanged helmets with Tony Kanaan, a Brazilian IRL driver and one of his best friends. On the same weekend, Kanaan raced in the 2006 Indianapolis 500 race using Barrichello's helmet. Barrichello qualified third for the 2006 Chinese Grand Prix, ahead of Schumacher and Räikkönen. He finished the season seventh in the drivers' standings with 30 points, 26 behind Button.

Barrichello driving for Honda at the 2007 British Grand Prix

Barrichello driving for Honda at the 2008 Canadian Grand Prix

Barrichello did not score any points during the 2007 season, mostly due to the Honda RA107's lack of pace. Despite retiring only twice, a ninth place in the British Grand Prix was his best result of the season and he only once qualified in the top 10. He finished the standings in 20th place, behind weaker cars such as Takuma Sato's Super Aguri and Adrian Sutil's Spyker.

Honda confirmed on July 19, 2007, that Barrichello would remain with the team as a race driver for the 2008 Formula One season.^[5] This gave him the opportunity of making the five race starts he required to break Riccardo Patrese's record for the driver that has started the most Grands Prix, a record that had stood for 14 years.

In the first race of the 2008 season, Barrichello qualified 10th, ahead of Button. He finished 6th but was disqualified for ignoring a red light at the pit exit. He also received a stop-and-go penalty during the race for entering the pits while they were closed during a safety car period. In the 2008 Malaysian Grand Prix, gearbox problems limited his performance and he finished 13th. In the 2008 Bahrain Grand Prix he again finished out of the points.

The 2008 Turkish Grand Prix was Barrichello's 257th Grand Prix, breaking Riccardo Patrese's record of 256 Grand Prix starts and becoming the most experienced driver in F1 history. The particular Grand Prix at which he broke this record has been disputed, as he technically did not start some races, such as the 2002 Spanish Grand Prix^[6], but Barrichello and Honda chose the 2008 Turkish Grand Prix to be the location of the official celebrations^[7].

In Monaco, he finally scored his first points since 2006 and in Canada he scored back-to-back points, finishing 7th after starting in 9th position. He led some laps in this race thanks to the appearance of the safety car, but fell back down the order towards the end of the race.

At Magny-Cours, Barrichello did not repeat his performance from the two previous races and qualified in 17th. After a gearbox change, he dropped to 20th. In the race, he finished 14th.

At Silverstone, which he said he considers to be his second home, he qualified 16th, outpacing Button. Despite this and heavy rain on race day, through the use of an extreme wet tyre he finished 3rd, achieving his first podium since 2005. However in Germany, a collision with David Coulthard ended his hopes for points. In Hungary, he was lapped by the leader, repeating the same performance in Valencia. In Belgium he qualified 16th but had to retire due to a gearbox fault. At a wet Italy he was second fastest in Friday practice and started from 16th on the grid. He managed to get up to 9th but due to using the wrong type of tyre in his second pit stop he ended up 17th. At F1's first ever night race in Singapore he was in a good position to score some points after pitting before the pit lane closed for the safety car period but shortly after the engine failed and he had to retire. In the Japanese Grand Prix he again failed to get out of Q1 and started from 17th on the grid, but managed to get up to 13th by the end of the race. In China he managed to get into Q2 for the first time in ten races, and would have started 14th. But after Mark Webber had his ten place penalty for a engine change added he was moved up to 13th. On race day he had a good start, and got up to 10th early on and held a strong mid table position all race and finished 11th, five places ahead of team mate Jenson Button who had struggled all weekend.

At his home Grand Prix in Brazil, he was sporting an alternative helmet design in tribute to Ingo Hoffmann. He finished 15th.^[8][9]

On 5 December 2008 Honda announced that they were quitting F1, due to the economic crisis. This lead to months of uncertainty as to whether a buyer could be found, and whether they would retain Barrichello.