'I was Michael Schumacher's team-mate at Ferrari and this is how we stopped the rot'

Rubens Barrichello has revealed the secrets behind the "magic" era that witnessed Ferrari's domination of Formula 1. The Brazilian, serving as teammate to seven-time world champion Michael Schumacher during the early 2000s, proved instrumental in the machinery that enabled the Scuderia to crush their rivals.

He arrived in 2000 when Ferrari had already secured the constructors' championship and became a reliable partner to Schumacher as he claimed five consecutive drivers' titles.

"It was magic," he told the Mirror. "Ferrari went 19 years without a win and, all of a sudden, I was part of something magic."

Barrichello, now 53, had spent years racing for midfield outfits Jordan and subsequently Stewart Grand Prix, before receiving the call from Ferrari chief Jean Todt.

"People knew how much I like to set up the car and I think that's what they needed," he explained. "They needed someone to join the big team to make it better in setting up things. I used to try all the tires, I used to try setups, I used to try a lot of things. The year in '99 with Stewart, with a really good car, I showed that, with a good car, I was capable of getting to the top."

He instantly demonstrated this capability in a Ferrari, securing second place on his debut behind only teammate Schumacher in Melbourne.

Barrichello's maiden triumph came later that year at the Hockenheimring which, in his eighth F1 campaign, he described as feeling like "relief more than anything else". Barrichello, who clinched nine victories over six seasons with Ferrari, has praised the team's leadership during his tenure, despite Schumacher often stealing the limelight.

The Brazilian driver highlighted the crucial roles played by team boss Todt, technical director Ross Brawn and chief designer Rory Byrne in creating a car capable of such success.

Barrichello stated: "For everything in life, you need really good organisation and a good leader. A good leader means the one that is not going to go there and say, 'Why didn't you do this correctly?' It's, 'How can I help you to make your work better?' That team had that kind of mood.

"They had people doing the right things because they loved what they did. Ross Brawn, he didn't do too many things – he did thing one properly. Jean Todt did one thing properly, the drivers did it properly. The mechanics were where they wanted to be.

"It was a good team in everything that happened. The attitude at the aerodynamics, with the wind tunnel and everything, was just getting better. It was a really good team with a really good car."

However, Ferrari's last constructors' title came in 2008, after Barrichello had been replaced by fellow Brazilian Felipe Massa and moved to Honda. Since then, internal politics and operational failures have often hindered the team's progress.

But Barrichello insists it would be unfair for him to judge and believes different eras of F1 are not comparable.

He said: "Nowadays, we as the public, we know too much. I just feel that people just say too much – you should talk within the team to sort out stuff.

"It's tough – to be a Ferrari driver is not easy. It wasn't easy in my time when they already had [mobile phones], but right now you have social media. I think, in that respect, I lived in the right moment because I just stayed quiet.

"I was quiet for the public but not quiet inside the team. The team needs to know what is right, what is wrong, and the driver needs to know what's right or what's wrong. But [today] there are too many people knowing."