Bruno Senna joins Romain Grosjean as reserve driver at Lotus Renault
3-time Formula One world champion Ayrton Senna’s nephew Bruno Senna drove for HRT (Hispania Racing Team) for a full season in 2010, but unfortunately, the young Brazilian was unable to secure a single point in his debut season.
However, one cannot blame him since his team did not produce a very strong car as it was
their debut season as well, as a result of which, the three drivers that shared the season’s run at HRT were unable to secure a single point for the team throughout the season.
HRT recently revealed that they have signed Narain Karthikeyan as one of their full season drivers, but still have to reveal their second driver for the team. Meanwhile, Lotus Renault GP recently revealed that they have signed
Romain Grosjean and Bruno Senna as their reserve drivers for the upcoming season. Both drivers join fellow reserves (former Lotus third driver) Fairuz Fauzy, Jan Charouz and Ho-Ping Tung.
Romain Grosjean, following his fall from grace from the world of F1, is now being managed by Gravity, an organization under the control of Renault’s team owners Genii.
“For sure it's a great feeling. I think it's the best option for me to get back in a [Formula 1] racing car in 2012,” said Grosjean.
"2011 will be my comeback year with a third driver spot at Lotus Renault and a whole season in GP2 and GP2 Asia with the DAMS team. To be third pilot ... allows me to gain a huge amount of experience, to be in the paddock, to see
people, and to understand what I was lacking in my first Formula One experience," he added.
The addition of Grosjean was part of team boss Eric Boullier’s plan to bring back a French driver to F1.
Senna is equally excited to join first team drivers Robert Kubica and Vitaly Petrov in Renault and he believes that it is going to be a very healthy experience for him.
“It's a great leap of faith from them to give me this shot, so I'm very happy. I'm very excited. I hope this year can get better and better,” said Senna, and later added, "This year will be all about integrating myself with the
team and extracting the most I can from being in such a competitive environment. Being part of this project will give me so much valuable experience and it's down to me to make the most of it. I hope that I can develop myself and prove to the team that I should
be given an opportunity for the future."
Houllier has shown great confidence in Senna, and has said that in case one of the first team drivers cannot race in a particular GP, Senna will be the first reserve to be given a shot.
"I will give it to the one that is ready, and this year Bruno is the most ready driver," he said.
Since Renault has signed with Group Lotus, the team now has sound financial backing and it is expected that they are going to be one of the “black horses” of the 2011 Formula 1 season.
Renault is one of those teams which have the capability of rising to the occasion unexpectedly, just like they did in 2005 and 2006 and won the championships from Ferrari.
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