Senna looks to bounce back from weekend “riddled with problems”

2011 Indian Grand Prix

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Bruno Senna, Renault, Korea, 2011

Bruno Senna is looking to bounce back from a poor result in the Korean Grand Prix as he heads to the next race in India.

Senna said: “It was a weekend riddled with problems.

“On Friday, our running was limited and we had some issues with the balance and aerodynamics of the car. On the Saturday I also endured a tough time, as I wasn’t able to pick myself up in qualifying and, as a result, ended up 15th on the grid.

“As for the race, I think the car was better than where it finished. I had a poor start again, which dampened my expectations but I still gave it my all and managed to recover a few positions to finish in 13th. Unfortunately I didn’t have the performance necessary to overtake a few more cars and my tyres were pretty beaten up by the end.”

He described the Indian Grand Prix as a “voyage into the unknown”, saying: “We do not yet know how the car is likely to perform, though looking at the track layout it should suit us quite well, and we can expect to be up amongst the mix in the top 10; although we need to remain careful at this stage.

“From the maps I have seen, it looks to be a fast, flowing track that suits my style of driving so I am looking forward to racing there. It will be a test of who learns fastest. I think that whichever teams can extract the maximum from their cars in the short period of time that we are there will benefit most.”

Team principal Eric Boullier has high hopes for the new venue: “We, the team principals, have been updated regularly about the facilities by Bernie [Ecclestone] himself.

“It is always difficult to judge by pictures alone, but it appears to be a very promising facility with a strong, suitable infrastructure and I’m sure we will have a great event there. I, for one, am excited about it as it will be deviating from the F1 norm, and I’ve little doubt it will be a great experience all round. Let’s hope we can take a good result from the weekend too.”

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    Keith Collantine
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    22 comments on “Senna looks to bounce back from weekend “riddled with problems””

    1. Most over-rated driver of the year awarded to Bruno Senna.

      1. @infy I hope you will be wrong. I still have high hopes for Bruno. His uncle thought very well of him and in spite of not racing for years he made it to F1. Of course his name added to that, but also adds pressure.

        At first he looked very good (Spa qualifying), but lately Petrov has the upper hand. And that should not be the case.

        Maybe I’m just wrong about Petrov. At this moment I rate Petrov at the same level as Sutil. Which is good, but not WDC material. So, getting beaten by Petrov is bad, in my view.

        On the other hand, we saw with Fisichella’s change to Ferrari, how extremely hard it is to just get in another car halfway in the season. So, still hoping here.

        If we’re talking overrated, I would come up with Chandok.

        1. I’m not particularly impressed with Senna either, he’s had a few average performances, and a few shocking performances to. His only eye catching performances for me were in qualifying where it matters less. In races, he has been okay at best, and I imagine Heidfeld would have brought home many more points than Senna has since Belgium.

          I think Senna should be given a chance from the beginning of the season. However with number of drivers looking for a seat at Renault next year, he may not get that chance.

        2. His uncle only mentioned him because he had interest in boosting Senna’s career. It has obviously worked very well :P

        3. I just dont think Senna is that ‘highly’ rated to begin with. He has done a pretty solid job considering he joined in mid-season. But no one thought that he would set the world on fire.

          The only worrying thing is that Petrov seems to have got the better of him in a couple of races, and personally, I rate Petrov as one of the worst drivers on the grid.

      2. Happy to read someone with the same opinion as myself. I think F1 fans need to let go of Sennas name and watch Bruno as himself and as Bruno he isnt worth it he is a paid driver that was beaten by Chandok a very common driver.

      3. To be honest @infy, hardly anyone was expecting him to do much at all when he replaced Heidfeld this year.

        But he had a super qualifying in Spa, a solid result in the next race and did do quite fine given what the Renault is currently up to. Not living up to what Ayrton thought of his skill, at least not yet, but I would not say Most over-rated driver of the year

        1. I would not say that Senna is the “most over-rated driver of the year”.

          Quite simply the Renault he is in is now not on the pace of the leaders’. Yes, Petrov got a podium and some strong results in what was the 4th-fastest car on the grid at the start of the season, but since Senna has started Petrov has scored exactly the same number of points.

          1. Nothin wrong with brunos showing this year he’s come in very late in the season and done as well as petrov.

            Before this season the redbull drivers did 1000km of testing each and the ferrari drivers did about the same. Webber has been strugling with tyres all year sutil has come out and said he’s only just got the hang of driving with these tyres lewis appears to have struggled with them recently. Massa’s been no where almost all year. Credit where credit is due he’s been on the pace and hasn’t been forced to make more stop than the others. He deserves at least another year in a better car starting with a proper pre season test.

            1. Interestingly enough, I don’t think Senna has completed a full pre-season test programme. I would like to see him get a seat next season, but unless Grosjean has to take a back seat for another season and Kubica stays out, there isn’t a seat for him I don’t think…

        2. @BasCB but do you see the point of replacing “Heidfield” with Brunno? other than sponsorship money…
          I know that Nick isn’t that Quick as he used to be but still his a solid point scorer.

          1. @arrang i think it was a wrong step to go with Heidfeld in the first place, given what Renault expected of him. But to replace Nick when they knew they were not really going to get anywhere close to the top 4 probalby made sense.

            This way they can give Senna a chance to show what potential he has, and it does sell better to have that name in the car then Heidfeld does.

          2. ah, sorry did not get the 3rd r in there first time @arrrang

        3. He’s doing a good job.

          He isn’t doing any worse than Heidfeld would have done. I think the R31 has been a poor representation of the performance of it’s drivers since the middle of the season, simply because it’s been decent at some tracks and terrible at others. The focus is clearly on next year and what’s happening with Kubica.

    2. Its often intresting how fans opinions of drivers differ from people within f1.

      Bruno was actually pretty highly rated at HRT & the guys at renault seem to love him as well as far as his ability goes.
      All his team owners from other series he’s ran also rate Bruno very highly, GP2 team isport boss Paul Jackson says that Bruno was one of the best drivers he’s ever run.

      also dont forget that when Bruno had that test with Honda in 2008 he not only massively impressed Ross Brawn & the rest of the team but was also only 4 tenths off Button’s times in the same car.

    3. His time with Renault is on the line, his career if Formula One is on the line and his name is a curse for no-one can or will ever be worthy of the Senna name…did I actually say that about Aryton Senna???
      I wish him success but there are alot of wolves who are hungry for the chance. His future depends on producing unexpected results, without such results he will be easy picking by the promise of another young driver.

    4. I think its a bit early to really be judging Bruno’s brief season, Better to wait till the end & look back.

      He’s done 5 races, Has outqualified Petrov 3 times, Finished ahead of him 3 times (Althogh 2 were DNF’s for Petrov) & has more or less been matching Petrov’s race pace.

      When you consider that Bruno hadn’t done any proper running in an F1 car since March before Spa & had a great deal less experience of the R31 than Petrov I actually think he’s been doing a pretty good job.

      Something I would point out about 2010 is that while its true Chandhok was classified ahead of Bruno, When you look back at each race weekend Bruno spent more time ahead of Karun than the other way around & the car failed on Bruno several times while he was ahead of Karun including in the 2 races where Karun’s 14th spot finish got him classified ahead of Bruno in the championship.

      I think one problem Bruno has is that everyone compares him to Ayrton, However he isn’t Ayrton, And Ayrton was so good that most drivers in F1 would fail to look good when compared to Ayrton so I don’t think that comparisson is really fair.

      1. It is sort of like being Ralf Schumacher…

        1. lol, good example

      2. I understand why people MIGHT think Senna is under pressure, having Ayrton as an uncle but I fail to understand WHY.

        Surely, no one on this Earth is naive enough to think that talent is something that runs in the blood? If I was in Bruno’s position but having never driven a racing car let alone an F1 car I get the impression people would still expect the same level of performance and success that Ayrton enjoyed! It’s just crazy that people are that stupid, to be honest.

        Even if we’re talking ignorant sponsors here, you think they would apply some thought to the situation and realise that they are not one and the same person.

    5. I have confidence in the guy, I really do. I just think he needs to hone his race craft, which he didn’t get much of a chance at while at HRT. Silly little errors like the one in Spa need ironing out and i’m sure he will be fine.

    6. I think that if he doesn’t get a top 6 finish this season (or some other lucky result) “Lotus” will drop him for 2012 with Grosjean. And that’s quite good news I must say! Personally I would love to see a team-mate fight of Petrov and Grosjean. It just seems to me that Petrov is stil one of the most underrated driver out there… Kubica demolished Petrov in 2010, just like Alonso demolished Grosjean. ALO and KUB are in the TOP 5 drivers I think. Petrov is like Sutil – good but still something is missing and I don’t mean the car. Brunno right now is average (in F1 terms) still he has 3 races to show himself..

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