At the first race of the season in Bahrain, Barrichello qualified eleventh on the grid, and finished tenth in the race. In Australia, he went on to finish eighth, moving him to within two points of Senna's mark. He stalled on the grid in Malaysia due to an overheating clutch, but recovered to twelfth place at the finish. In China, he finished twelfth again. In Spain he benefited from Lewis Hamilton's late crash to score two points, finishing in 9th, despite starting 18th on the grid and equalling Senna's record.