Tony Kanaan wore Barrichello's helmet livery at the 2006 Indy 500 while Barrichello sported Kanaan's livery at the Monaco Grand Prix. Now the two could compete at Indy together in 2012. (Photo: LAT)

“I can tell you, if I was still driving in the series I would be really looking forward to Rubens being there because I always felt that the higher regard you hold your competitors, the sweeter, the bigger reward when you beat them,” he said. “In my career I was always looking for racing against the best people I could find. It makes the competition all the more meaningful. The competition is what defines you. And when you have a guy like Rubens coming into the series, that level goes up.”

De Ferran attended the 2011 F1 season finale at Interlagos in Brazil, and noted that despite spending nearly two decades in the series, Barrichello hasn’t lost a step.

“From what I could see, he lost none of his speed from when he was 18 years old,” he said. “The guy is super fast. When he’s at his best, to me, you can compare him to one of the top drivers in the history of the sport. You have a driver--for almost 20 years--that has been on the sharp end of what is considered to be the highest series in the world.”

The impact Barrichello could have on IndyCar’s audience would also be just as impressive.

Using Twitter as an informal measuring stick for media reach, Barrichello has amassed 1.4 million followers. Compare that to Danica Patrick’s 534,000 followers, and with Barrichello on the grid, IndyCar might have not have the major publicity crisis some feared would happen with Patrick’s departure to NASCAR.

“I think Rubens, internationally, will do a lot for the sport,” said Franchitti, who drove with Patrick at Andretti-Green Racing. “Internally, I think other drivers will expand to fill the gap. That’s the way I see it. Danica obviously brought a huge amount of recognition to the sport, and I think the sport of IndyCar also allowed her to be in the position she’s in. That was the launching pad for everything she’s done off the track.

After lending Barrichello his car to test at Infineon on Saturday, Kanaan joked that he had been reduced to carrying Rubens' helmet... (Photo: Marshall Pruett)

"I think you’ll see other drivers fill that space she occupied, but Rubens will add to that quite a lot.”

Along with Franchitti, Castroneves isn’t concerned by a potential vacuum caused by Patrick, and thinks that having one of F1’s most recognizable drivers in the paddock will add a dimension that’s been missing from Indy car racing for some time.

“I would say whoever is a Danica fan is going to follow her wherever she goes,” he said. “Now, Danica surely brought attention to the series--whatever she did. For me, I don’t think it’s about losing any fans, but I do feel Rubens, being a world name in motorsport, could bring a bigger audience. That’s people from England, Brazil, America, Italy or wherever. We are going to gain more fans because of that, but more than that, we’re going to gain a Formula One driver.

“Nigel Mansell, Emerson Fittipaldi, [Alex] Zanardi and so many others switched to Indy cars in the past, so I think this is another big thing for us. Maybe not all the fans here knew who those guys were, but soon they did and they became very popular and famous here. I think it will be like this for Rubens for the people that don’t know him, but I think he’s going to make fans interested and we’ll get more people at the races.”

With Franchitti, Power and Castroneves anticipating what Barrichello can bring in terms of competitiveness and marketability, one member of their fraternity is looking forward to what he can learn from the soft-spoken driver.

“I have my personal reasons for wanting him as my teammate,” said Tony Kanaan. “It’s not just because he’s a dear friend and all of that. I’ve witnessed throughout his career the teammates that he’s raced against and that he’s beaten. For me, at this stage of my career, I think he would help me to step things up and take things to the next level. It would be nice to get new feedback, new impressions and what can be done better.”

Team Penske's Will Power, left, and Helio Castroneves, right, welcome the chance to test themselves against Barrichello. (Photo: LAT)

Kanaan is also hopeful that with someone of Barrichello’s stature and appeal in the series, the flow of young Brazilian talent into the Mazda Road To Indy, and eventually the IndyCar Series, will resume.

“The tradition has always been for Brazilians to try and go to Formula One; what happened back in the day with me and Helio and Gil was a bit different, but there’s a lot of good young Brazilians like (2011 British F3 champion) Felipe Nasr who are coming up trying to make it,” he explained. “If Rubens comes, it’s going to be an extra boost for the young kids to look to IndyCar. It’s a cycle that we are going through.

"It’s not that we don’t have talent; it also takes money, but we’d love to see some doors open for the next generation to come here.”

Thursday’s press conference will reveal whether IndyCar will have a new star to build into its marketing plans and, as Castroneves joked, whether its drivers will have a challenging new puzzle to solve.

“I wish him…not too well…,” he said playfully, "because he’s going to be a tough one to beat, but I think everyone will be thankful if we can have him in our series.”

Marshall Pruett is SPEED.com's Auto Racing Editor, covering IndyCar and sports cars. He also contributes to Road & Track and Racecar Engineering. Follow him @MarshallPruett on Twitter.