F1 News
Date: 17/1/2012
The Senna name will make an emotional return to the Williams F1 team in 2012 with the announcement that Bruno Senna, nephew of Ayrton, will complete the team’s driver line-up.
Triple world champion and motorsport legend Aryton Senna was killed while leading the 1994 San Marino Grand Prix, in only his third race for Williams.
“I feel very privileged that Williams has selected me as one of their race drivers,” said Bruno, who joins Venezuelan Pastor Maldonado. “The team has a great heritage and I hope I can help write a good chapter in their history.
“It will be very interesting to drive for a team that my uncle has driven for, particularly as quite a few of the people here actually worked with Ayrton. Hopefully we can bring back some memories and create some great new ones too.
“I also want to get some good results in return for the support my country has given me to help get me to this position today. I am very proud to be Brazilian and more motivated than ever to demonstrate what I can do. Ever since I first sat in a go-kart I never wanted to do anything else.”
Bruno, 28, made his F1 debut with backmarker’s HRT during 2010. He then switched to a test driver role at Lotus Renault for 2011, which became a race seat in place of Nick Heidfeld for the second half of the year. Senna scored his first two grand prix points with ninth place at Monza.
But the Williams deal is not without controversy, since Senna takes the place of veteran countryman Rubens Barrichello, who had been pushing hard to retain his seat for a third season.
The 39-year-old, who made his F1 debut back in 1993 and has since won eleven races, could now be forced into retirement or at best a test-driving role.
Barrichello was a protégée of Ayrton Senna and even helped carry his coffin.
Team principal Frank Williams was at pains to justify the signing of Bruno Senna on merit alone, with inevitable rumours that sponsorship dollars had won the day.
“Bruno only started racing when he was 20 years old but quickly proved his talent in F3 and GP2. In a tightly fought 2008 GP2 season, Bruno finished second in the Championship with notable victories in Monaco and Silverstone, the latter in the wet,” he said.
“The circumstances of Bruno’s two seasons in Formula One have not given him an ideal opportunity to deliver consistently so it was essential that we spent as much time with him as possible to understand and evaluate him as a driver.
“We have done this both on track and in our simulator and he has proven quick, technically insightful and above all capable of learning and applying his learning quickly and consistently. Now we are looking forward to seeing that talent in our race car.”
No mention was made of Barrichello, who finished 17th in the 2011 Drivers’ championship with four points, compared with one-point for rookie Maldonado.
Bruno Senna will make his Williams debut at Jerez on February 9, during the first of the F1 winter tests.
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