Formula One Stars Bruno Senna, di Grassi & Jenson Button Preparing to Shine at Monaco Triathlon
Formula One drivers Bruno Senna, Lucas di Grassi and 2009 world champion, Jenson Button, have all signed up to compete at this Sunday’s triathlon event in Monaco. The racers have announced that they will be participating in the swimming, cycling and running competitions this weekend. McLaren’s Jenson Button, who has already once enrolled himself in a triathlon earlier this year, has decided to give the activity another shot in Monaco.
Both Senna and di Grassi appeared fairly excited about their plans for this weekend. The two Brazilian drivers are close friends off the circuit and will compete at the event as a team. Senna, who is currently driving for team Hispania, said the main reason they had both signed up for event was to boost their fitness. Winning was not a priority, explained the legendary Ayrton Senna’s nephew. Senna said that he was quite passionate about cycling, but admitted a 100 km uphill struggle was bound to be tough and it would be achievement enough for him to even complete the race.
Senna also explained the logic behind the rather amusing name the drivers have chosen for their team. The Brazilian said their side had been named “Rib Fat”, a title based on the nicknames Senna and di Grassi have for each other. Interestingly, it was learnt that di Grassi called Senna “Rib” because the HRT racer used to frequently suffer from broken ribs back in his kart racing days. Meanwhile, Bruno nicknamed his friend “Fat” because di Grassi’s Portuguese name directly translates into ‘fat’ in Italian.
The Formula One trio will be joining around 660 other individual participants and 40 relay teams, including famed athlete Sergei Bubka, this weekend in Monaco.
Following the triathlon, the drivers will no doubt be gearing their energies towards preparation for the upcoming Italian Grand Prix in Monza. Jenson Button, in particular, will be anxious to revive his championship winning chances after an unfortunate Belgian Grand Prix campaign. The Englishman had to suffer from a fruitless run in Spa, his misery no doubt accentuated by the fact that his retirement was due to no fault of his own. The McLaren man was forced to abandon the race after Sebastian Vettel’s Red Bull RB6 bumped into Button’s MP4-25 as the German driver made an avoidable error some way into the race.
No doubt unimpressed by Vettel’s less than apt manoeuvre that left both drivers pointless at the end of the Belgian campaign, Button said that it was crucial to do well at the Italian Grand Prix if he were to keep his 2010 title hopes alive. Although the Red Bull driver was awarded a drive-through penalty for his mistake, that was scant consolation for Button, who saw his advantage in the championship race plummet. The McLaren driver said he had been at loss over what Vettel had been attempting to do when he had bumped into his car.
However, Button might feel better in the knowledge that two of his other title rivals also left the Spa-Francorchamps circuit without any points. Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso too had to retire from the race after dramatically losing control of his F10 on the rain-drenched Belgian tracks. What was a five-horse race for this year’s championship title increasingly appears to have become a two-party battle after 3 of the title contenders left the Belgian Grand Prix empty-handed. Button’s McLaren teammate, Lewis Hamilton, and Vettel’s Red Bull partner, Mark Webber, now stand at the top of the rankings with 181 and 177 points respectively.
Meanwhile, Bruno Senna had a far-from-satisfactory Sunday afternoon at the Spa-Francorchamps, where he was forced to retire from the race after a component in his car broke down. Lucas di Grassi finished 17th in his Virgin after managing to outpace his teammate, Timo Glock, throughout the run. Senna will no doubt be looking for a more fruitful campaign at the upcoming Italian Grand Prix.
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