Barrichello began driving go-karts at the age of 10. One year later, he won the Brazilian Kart championship for the first of many times.
In 1989, he began driving in Formula Ford, finishing fourth in his first season in the Brazilian championship. He moved to Europe the following year, where he won the European Formula Opel championship and, in 1991, the British Formula 3 championship.
In 1993, Formula One team Jordan signed him. He drove for them for four years. In his second year with the team, he was sixth in the Drivers' championship and made it to the podium for the first time.
Stewart-Ford signed the rising star in 1997, but Barrichello wasn't able to win his first Grand Prix until he signed with Ferrari in 2000. That season saw Barrichello finish fourth in the Drivers' championship. In the following years he finished third in 2001, second in 2002, fourth in 2003 and second in 2004.
He wasn't able to capture any wins in 2005, after Ferrari suffered a disappointing season. He finished on the podium four times, including second in the U.S. Grand Prix that saw only six cars competing. He finished the season eighth in the standings.
In 2006, he moved to Honda Racing F1 team, working alongside Briton Jenson Button. Following his recent success at Ferrari, the season was a disappointment for the Brazilian – failing to score either a win or a podium on the season. In total, he amassed 30 points, good enough for seventh best in the standings.
Barrichello suffered the worst season of his career in 2007 with Honda. The team's car was very unreliable and he failed to score even a single point.
He bounced back a little in 2008 with Honda, when he finished 14th in the final standings. He scored 11th points and finished on the podium, in third, at the Grand Prix of Great Britain.
With Honda shutting its doors after the 2008 season, Barichello will drive for the new Brawn GP team for 2009.
