Focus on Bruno Senna
When Bruno Senna signed on to join the HRT team for his inaugural Formula 1 season before the start of the 2010 campaign, he must have known that his first season would be full of its fair share of bumps and low points. Almost every driver experiences ups and downs in their first season in the sport but Senna was almost assured of having more than most. The HRT team was new in 2010, meaning both the driver and the team would be experiencing it for the first time.
However, things have likely been far more adventurous and difficult that Senna could have imagined. The HRT team had some major obstacles to overcome in the off season, including a lack of financing and a change in ownership and management. All of this led to the inability of the team to secure practice time. In fact, the first time that Senna was able to get behind the wheel of a team car was in the first practice session for the season-opening race in Bahrain.
Not surprisingly, things have not gone well for Senna in his first year in Formula 1. The HRT cars have been woefully slow, often qualifying a full second behind the next slowest cars in the field. Both Senna and his team mate Karun Chandhok have repeatedly qualified at the back of the grid throughout the first half of the season and finished there as well.
Through the first nine races, Senna has been in the back row of the grid five times. Along with being slow, the HRT car has been unreliable as Senna has finished only three races, with maladies in the hydraulics, fuel pressure issues and broken gearboxes plaguing him.
A lack of funds, experience and solid equipment in the HRT team might make you suspect that the team would avoid using Senna as a scapegoat for their poor performance. However, Senna received a kick in the gut ahead of the British Grand Prix when he was pulled from the car just ahead of the first practice and replaced by Sakon Yamamoto, a veteran driver who had not raced since 2007.
It was unclear why Yamamoto was brought in to replace Senna in Silverstone. Some people speculated the team wanted to see if a veteran driver could get more out of the car and provide more insight on how to improve things. Other people felt that Yamamoto was brought in because he came with his own sponsorship package while there were rumours that Senna’s personal sponsors had been late in paying the team. No matter what the reason was for the change, the results were similar - Yamamoto qualified 24th and finished 20th and the team announced that Senna would be back in the seat for the rest of the season.
However, recent media reports have suggested that Senna’s temporary exile from the HRT seat for the British Grand Prix was about more than money or performance. German magazine Auto Bild Motorsport reported that Senna had drafted an email critical of the leadership skills of HRT team principal Colin Kolles. While the email was meant for other people, the publication says that Senna accidentally sent it to Kolles. The result was a one-race “suspension” for reasons that were not made public but, if true, appear to be quite justified.
It appears quite possible that this season will be Senna’s only season with HRT. Being the nephew of legendary former world champion Ayrton Senna certainly has helped him open some doors within the sport, but he’s shown talent and promise at every form of racing he’s been involved in, including finishing second in the GP2 Series in 2008.
Senna is a talent who needs seat time. It’s important to remember that his young racing career was halted after his uncle’s death in 1994 and he didn’t begin racing again until 2004. If HRT can’t give him a competitive car, there’s a good chance that he’ll find another ride next season.
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