Born into a family with Italian paternal roots from Riese, in the province of Treviso, and Portuguese maternal heritage, Barrichello grew up surrounded by motorsport. Both his father and paternal grandfather share the name Rubens, giving rise to his diminutive nickname "Rubinho." He won five karting titles in Brazil before moving to Europe in 1990 to compete in the Formula Vauxhall Lotus series, which he won in his debut year. The following year he claimed the 1991 British Formula Three Championship, beating David Coulthard. In 1992 he moved up to International Formula 3000, finishing third in his rookie season, before joining Jordan for the 1993 Formula One season.
Barrichello's early seasons with Jordan were marked by competitive pace undermined by unreliable machinery. His 1994 campaign produced his first podium at the Pacific Grand Prix and a pole position at the Belgian Grand Prix — a record at the time for the youngest driver to secure pole at Spa-Francorchamps. That season was overshadowed by tragedy: at the 1994 San Marino Grand Prix, Barrichello suffered a violent crash in practice, and the weekend saw the deaths of Roland Ratzenberger and his mentor Ayrton Senna. He credited Professor Sid Watkins for saving his life after the crash left his airway blocked. He finished sixth in the 1994 championship with nineteen points. After a second podium at the 1995 Canadian Grand Prix, Jordan's competitiveness declined and his relationship with team owner Eddie Jordan deteriorated; he departed after 1996.
Barrichello joined the newly formed Stewart Grand Prix for 1997. Reliability problems plagued the team's debut season, with a second-place finish in Monaco the sole highlight. The 1998 season was similarly difficult. A breakthrough came in 1999 when Barrichello took pole position in the wet qualifying session in France and recorded three podium finishes at the San Marino, French, and European Grands Prix, catching the attention of Ferrari boss Jean Todt.
Signed to partner Michael Schumacher at Ferrari from 2000, Barrichello secured his first Formula One victory at the German Grand Prix at Hockenheim, having started from eighteenth on the grid. The win came after Ferrari gambled by keeping him on dry-weather tyres in mixed conditions, allowing him to leapfrog the McLarens who had pitted for wet tyres.
His six seasons with Ferrari produced eleven wins and five consecutive World Constructors' Championships for the team. His best individual seasons were 2002, when he scored four wins and 77 points to finish second in the championship, and 2004, when he won the Italian and Chinese Grands Prix and finished the year with 114 points and 14 podiums, again second behind Schumacher. The 2002 Austrian Grand Prix generated significant controversy when Ferrari team orders required Barrichello to yield the lead to the trailing Schumacher on the final straight; the drivers swapped trophies on the podium in protest, the team was fined, and the FIA subsequently banned team orders for 2003 onward. Barrichello contributed 51 podiums in 85 Grands Prix for Ferrari. A difficult 2005 season, hampered by Bridgestone's tyre disadvantage against Michelin-shod rivals, led to his departure.
Barrichello joined Honda in 2006 alongside Jenson Button. Honda's form was inconsistent across those years and the team did not score points in 2007. Honda announced its withdrawal from Formula One in December 2008, following the global economic crisis. Ross Brawn purchased the operation weeks before the 2009 season opener, renaming it Brawn GP. The team's double-diffuser advantage delivered a dominant start to the season; Barrichello ultimately finished third in the 2009 Drivers' Championship with 77 points, contributing to the team's Constructors' title. He took victories that year in Valencia — the one-hundredth win by a Brazilian driver in Formula One history — and at Monza. At Monaco during 2009 he became the driver who had completed the most laps in Formula One history, surpassing Michael Schumacher's total of 13,909. At the 2008 Turkish Grand Prix he had already become the most experienced Formula One driver in history, surpassing Riccardo Patrese's record of 256 starts.
Barrichello joined Williams for 2010 alongside rookie Nico Hulkenberg. At the 2010 Valencia street circuit he finished fourth and surpassed Ayrton Senna's career points tally of 614, becoming the highest-scoring Brazilian driver in Formula One history. He became the first driver to start more than 300 Formula One Grands Prix and was elected chairman of the Grand Prix Drivers' Association at the Belgian Grand Prix that year. After two difficult seasons with Williams — his last race was the 2011 Brazilian Grand Prix, where he finished fourteenth — he was replaced by Bruno Senna for 2012.
His final Formula One record comprised 326 starts, eleven wins, fourteen pole positions, seventeen fastest laps, and 68 podiums.
Barrichello joined KV Racing Technology for the 2012 IndyCar season alongside Tony Kanaan. He led two laps of his first Indianapolis 500, finishing eleventh and winning the Rookie of the Year award. He recorded two top-six finishes across the season. In endurance racing, he finished runner-up at the 2016 24 Hours of Daytona with Wayne Taylor Racing.
Returning to Brazil after IndyCar, Barrichello joined Full Time Sports in the Stock Car Pro Series driving a Chevrolet. He was crowned champion in 2014 — his first title in 23 years since the 1991 British F3 crown — and again in 2022, both times with the same team. He has recorded at least one individual race win in every season from 2016 through 2022. In 2025 he competed in the NASCAR Brasil Series, winning at Interlagos and Velocitta and finishing first in the overall drivers' standings.
Barrichello's 68 Formula One podiums as a non-World Champion remain the record in that category. His career at Ferrari coincided with the team's most dominant era, a period in which he consistently delivered results alongside one of the sport's greatest champions. He was the most experienced Formula One driver in history at the time of his retirement and remains a beloved figure in Brazilian motorsport, continuing to compete actively into his fifties.