Bruno Senna

Congratulations to young Bruno Senna for a fantastic qualifying session today.

I'm sure his uncle would be very proud knowing he's starting the Belgian Grand Prix - his first race of the year - from 7th on the Grid.

Spa-Francorchamps is a special circuit. A real challenge and known as a "driver's circuit" which "separates the men from the boys".

Add to that the tricky, greasy conditions you had today and Bruno's consistency in ALL 3 sessions at this circuit means there's some talent there.

The Renault is by no means a Top 4 car...so to be 7th on the grid ahead of the likes of World Champions Alonso and Button (both of whom have superior Ferraris and McLarens) and his somewhat highly rated teammate Petrov, is a very good achievement.

Good luck in the race tomorrow Bruno!

C'mon Boy...Make Brazil Proud of it's Formula One drivers again! :cheer:
 
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I can't believe how late they have left this. 20 days to the first test. This is the sort of last second decision you expect from team like HRT not the once great Williams team. If this is how long it takes them to select a driver, goodness knows what last second shenanigans is happening on the car.

They used to be my favourite team, it pains me to see them operating like this. Heres hoping for a better 2012.
 
He wasn't my first, or second, choice for the seat, but to be fair he did show occasional flashes of speed in 2011, and he might do a decent job. Unfortunately he doesn't have much of a benchmark in Maldonado - we can probably assume that however fast the Williams is in 2012, there are drivers out there who could do a lot more with it.

I think he's more of an F1-driver-with-money than a no-hoper-pay-driver type.
 
I have to say, if this was purely about money then Petrov was their answer, he would even bring a potential title sponsor with him should they require it. From what I know and have heard, he really does have the biggest set of private sponsors amongst any of the younger inexperienced drivers.

So we should look at the other reasons for Senna driving, PR potential to raise the image of the team, and driver skill.

I don't think Bruno is anything special over and above the other younger drivers out there, but then he may just not have had the luck with the car for HRT and Renault. But is the luck of the car likely to change in a down on their luck, struggling for money Williams team?

So it is down to the potential PR then? As already mentioned, some people consider Bruno to be trading on the reputation of his late uncle. Is this a reputation you would want to trade when sitting in a Williams Renault? How long is it going to take for some gutter press "journalist" to ask the questions I think both Bruno and Williams would want to avoid about the feeling of being the first Senna to race in a Williams Renault since that day in Italy? Are the PR team supremely confident they can keep all talk of this away, especially at the Italian GP. Not that I think this would be damaging for the team reputation, because lets face it the whole thing has been gone over again and again for years, but how will it affect Bruno and his mindset if this is on the radar? Or do they have a marketting angle that will blow us away should it come to the surface?

I really don't understand the decision on Bruno, even when you combine what he openly brings to the team, it is not anything over and above what others would bring with them. So what is he giving to Williams that we don't know about yet? What extra can he bring to this deal that would have made their mind up in his favour?
 
Might come under the category of 'no such thing as bad publicity', perhaps. Bruno is personable and the team's sponsors won't mind his photos all over the press, even if the questions aren't mainly focused on his performance.
 
teabagyokel said:
There are two main news stories about F1 today. So, time for a little experiment.

Check how many articles say "Bruno Senna, nephew of the late Ayrton" or something along those lines on it. Then check how many say "Damon Hill, son of the late Graham" in. That is the difference in a nutshell.

OK, so Damon's path was eased by his father's legacy. However, Bruno is trading on his uncle's legacy far more, because unlike Damon he's got no results to back it up.
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Sorry, but that is just garbage.

When Damon Hill came into F1 in 1993 he was always being bandied about as the son of Graham Hill... Damon Hill had very few results prior to F1 to provide evidence that he was the real deal. Certainly, he never so much as won a race in international F3000. However, he did have pedigree as Williams' test driver (albeit regularly slower than the race drivers).
 
PS. I really struggle to see why people have such a downer on Bruno Senna. Ok, so maybe he has had his path into F1 eased by his name, but then so have drivers like Damon Hill, Jacques Villeneuve, Ralf Schumacher, etc etc... He is no less deserving of a drive than many of his peers. The one thing that Bruno hasn't had is years of support through karts, which some of the other drivers had, which has put him several years behind them on the ladder of progression...Give him a half decent team, support from the management and the engineers, and then watch whether he performs... Judging him based on a season for HRT and half a season in a Renault are not good barometers of performance. If he beats Maldo, then he will have deserved the seat. If Maldo beats him, then we should never expect to see the name Bruno Senna in F1 again!
 
The Artist..... said:
PS. I really struggle to see why people have such a downer on Bruno Senna.
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He could be called Billy the Goat Boy and I'd still have a downer on him because basically he's not shown anything that makes me think he deserves this F1 drive over the likes of Barrichello, Sutil, Alguersauri, Buemi, Liuzzi, Petrov or even some of the youngsters in GP2 last year. Speaking of GP2 the year he had in that he had the best car and should have coasted to the title but managed to throw it away to Giorgio Pantano who was already an F1 reject by this point

He was trounced by Petrov in his spell at Renault and even lost out to Chandhock during his time at HRT. I'm all for giving the boy a chance whatever he's called but its come and gone and with so many drivers compeating for so many positions I just feel he's in the way right now.

Sorry.
 
RasputinLives said:
He could be called Billy the Goat Boy and I'd still have a downer on him because basically he's not shown anything that makes me think he deserves this F1 drive over the likes of Barrichello, Sutil, Alguersauri, Buemi, Liuzzi, Petrov or even some of the youngsters in GP2 last year. Speaking of GP2 the year he had in that he had the best car and should have coasted to the title but managed to throw it away to Giorgio Pantano who was already an F1 reject by this point

He was trounced by Petrov in his spell at Renault and even lost out to Chandhock during his time at HRT. I'm all for giving the boy a chance whatever he's called but its come and gone and with so many drivers compeating for so many positions I just feel he's in the way right now.

Sorry.
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A great point, and I thoroughly agree with it.

He's not had his chance in karts, but many other talented drivers haven't had a chance in single seaters, GP2, or F1 due to the lack of sponsorship.
 
The Artist..... said:
Sorry, but that is just garbage.

When Damon Hill came into F1 in 1993 he was always being bandied about as the son of Graham Hill... Damon Hill had very few results prior to F1 to provide evidence that he was the real deal. Certainly, he never so much as won a race in international F3000. However, he did have pedigree as Williams' test driver (albeit regularly slower than the race drivers).
Click to expand

Yes, you're right, I'm talking crap with that one.

The Artist..... said:
Ok, so maybe he has had his path into F1 eased by his name, but then so have drivers like Damon Hill, Jacques Villeneuve, Ralf Schumacher, etc etc...
Click to expand

I certainly believe that F1 would have been better off for never hearing of Jacques Villeneuve or Ralf Schumacher.

I simply cannot see any evidence at all that Senna has got what it takes. He's already been unconvincing against the likes of Petrov, Chandhok and Klien, not the most solid F1 performers, and he was even once outqualified by Yamamoto. You can say he has never had a chance; true. He's never done anything to deserve one either.
 
For all those naysayers, I strongly recommend that you read Edd Straw's article on autosport online... It provides a good analysis of senna's career, and other second generation f1 drivers -including an interview with Damon Hill......
 
Is it second-generation if the relative is your uncle not your father? Has there, Hill and Villeneuve's "best car" Championships notwithstanding, been a really good second-generation F1 driver?
 

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