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!

 

[Lewywo4]

Senna claims it is talent and not money which landed him the seat.

He said it with a straight face too.

 

[gethinceri]

Of course, Bruno is not a second generation F1 driver.

You're just splitting heirs now.

 

[RasputinLives]

Christian Fittipaldi was very under-rated

 

[Slyboogy]

I don't think he was even rated.

 

[racecub]

I dont really think its fair to write Bruno off the way some of you are. He started halfway through the season in cars that are difficult to adapt to. He hasnt been in single seater for long and before F1, he would have won the GP2 had it not been for a stupid pitlane decision and dogs at Turkey. If he blow it fair enough, but give him a chance.

 

[The Artist.....]

Also, remember what happened to Fischella when he moved to a car he didn't know in 2009.... He went from 2nd place in Spa to qualifying at the back of the grid and not scoring any points for Ferrari... These cars are hard to learn how to drive, and the Renault was not a simple car this season.....

 

[FB]

I wish him the best but somehow I think any talent (however small) he and Maldonado might have will be subsumed by the POS Williams will present them with this season. Hope I'm wrong...

 

[gethinceri]

Do you mean piece of shit FB?

 

[FB]

I was trying to be polite

 

[Il_leone]

Mike COughlan designed car with Renault engines should give Williams a better car than last year I hope

I think Bruno will thrash Pastor..if its close between the two I'll be surprised although Pastor was mighty at Monaco unless being punted by Lewis

 

[RasputinLives]

Mike COughlan designed car with Renault engines should give Williams a better car than last year I hope

I think Bruno will thrash Pastor..if its close between the two I'll be surprised although Pastor was mighty at Monaco unless being punted by Lewis

Sorry Il Leone I couldn't disagree more - I think Pastor will put Bruno in the shade. Pastor reg got that Williams in the top ten in the european races quali, he actually won GP2 and he out paced Rubens for most of the season.

Bruno meanwhile has been out paced by nearly every teammate he's had including being out qualified by Sakon Yamamoto

Sorry but Uncle Fester gets my vote!

 

[ExtremeNinja]

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?

Nico Rosberg. Although I appreciate that, for many, the jury is still out on this one.

 

[Galahad]

Alberto Ascari was a second-generation driver, very handy.

I appreciate that Senna was a latecomer to racing, but once he's in F1 that excuse no longer works for me. It is (or should be) a formula for the best, not for those who are doing well relative to their experience.

Now he's got a full season he has to produce the goods, and for me that means beating Pastor on a regular basis.

 

[racecub]

Yes Id agree with the above. I think he did earn the chance to get to F1 by his F2 performances. Now he has a chance to prove he should stay there. And I really hope he smashes Malonado out of the water.....or something along those lines.

 

[teabagyokel]

Alberto Ascari was a second-generation driver, very handy.

I think Galahad has nailed it, there!

The GP2 champion in the year that Senna was 2nd was Georgio Pantano. Now Senna beat home some current F1 drivers that year, but to lose by 8 points to Pantano is not going to set F1's hearts racing!

 

[racecub]

I think Galahad has nailed it, there!

The GP2 champion in the year that Senna was 2nd was Georgio Pantano. Now Senna beat home some current F1 drivers that year, but to lose by 8 points to Pantano is not going to set F1's hearts racing!

And he lost it because off a very dubious pitlane penalty and by being taken out by dogs at Turkey. Without those incidents he'd have won it with a healthy lead.

 

[ExtremeNinja]

Williams have deemed fit to give him a shot. I'm glad he has a little more time to prove himself. If he doesn't I'll be equally glad to see him make way for someone else. In the meantime, I wish him the best of luck and hope he grabs the opportunity and makes the most of it.

 

[gethinceri]

He'll be signing up for NASCAR at the end of this season.

 

[Il_leone]

Sorry Il Leone I couldn't disagree more - I think Pastor will put Bruno in the shade. Pastor reg got that Williams in the top ten in the european races quali, he actually won GP2 and he out paced Rubens for most of the season.

Bruno meanwhile has been out paced by nearly every teammate he's had including being out qualified by Sakon Yamamoto

Sorry but Uncle Fester gets my vote!

The HRT was not the car to be in for your debut season... the team barely got the car ready for 2010 season after running into difficulties financially

Bruno's speed is there clearly from his quali in Spa , Suzuka and Brazil three real driver tracks when given his chance in a Renault. However his race craft is still rusty and needs improving seriously

I said I will be surprised if Pastor beats Bruno because no one rates uncle fester being GP2 champ. Surely people would have preferred Hulkenberg than Maldonado last season in a Williams and probably would have done better

I will give credit to Pastor for his Monaco performance but he still has to prove his is not there based on money from the government

Bruno could have been driving for BRawn back in 2009 instead of where he started. Yes Bruno needs to dispel the legacy of his uncle to carve out his own career

Bruno probably lacks Ayrton's ruthlessness from his easy going demeanour but here is a chance for him to show he is here to stay in F1

I think he should be grateful he is no longer in a HRT

 

[RasputinLives]

I think he should be grateful he is no longer in a HRT

I should imagine HRT are quite glad they don't have him anymore. Lets not forget that whilst they had Bruno and Sakon Yamamoto as their drivers that feedback from the drivers was so poor they had to bring Christian Klein in espeically to help develop the car

I said I will be surprised if Pastor beats Bruno because no one rates uncle fester being GP2 champ. Surely people would have preferred Hulkenberg than Maldonado last season in a Williams and probably would have done better

I completely agree that Hulkenberg would have done better than Maldonado but I'm not sure what that has to do with Maldonado beating Senna. To me Hulkenberg is in a different division to the pair of them.

Love him or loathe him for it Pastor has shown an aggressive desire to win in an F1 car and a great deal of qualifying pace. Not only do I think he'll have the legs on him in quali but I think if it came to them fighting head to head on the track that Maldonado wouldn't think twice about driving Bruno off the road if it meant he'd finish in front of him.

Also I'll go back to my point about him being beaten by Pantano in GP2 (Pantano by the way had the same number of retirements as Senna and was excluded from the entire weekend at Belguim so lets stop using the stray dogs thing as an excuse for Bruno) to me it showed he doesn't have the win at all costs in him - The unfancied Maldonado on the other hand beat the very highly rated Sergio Perez to the title by making sure he got the results he needed.

So on that basis Pastor is my tip.