204 replies to this topic

[senna1985]

Senna name set to return to Formula One

The Senna name, one of the most revered in motor sport, is poised to return to Formula One in 2009

What's in a name? Ayrton Senna's nephew Bruno Senna, pictured here racing in the GP2 Series, is touted for a F1 spot in the near future Photo: Bumstead/Sutton
Bruno Senna, the 24-year-old nephew of triple world champion Ayrton who died in an accident during the 1994 San Marino Grand Prix at Imola, is being courted by several teams as a result of his performances in GP2 – the official F1 feeder series that Lewis Hamilton won in 2006. Senna lies second in the standings, seven points off the lead with six races remaining.


http://www.telegraph...ormula-One.html

[pedrovski]

Originally posted by senna1985
Senna name set to return to Formula One


http://www.telegraph...ormula-One.html

One word Nepotism. It's the family name thing and that's all, Rosberg Piquet Senna. you don't see Bjorn Borg and John McEnroe's kids at the top level of tennis. Money and the family name like an aristocracy.

[Isamu77]

Good read, thank you for posting.

Someday soon we might see the Senna name return to F1 (hopefully still powered by HONDA)

[Nitropower]

Originally posted by pedrovski


One word Nepotism. It's the family name thing and that's all, Rosberg Piquet Senna. you don't see Bjorn Borg and John McEnroe's kids at the top level of tennis. Money and the family name like an aristocracy.

Not romantic, ugly, but TRUE.

[SeanValen]

If he's really good, then great for the sport.

If he's not, then bravo for giving it a try.


I've met Senna's nephew on one occassion, and I ended up talking about his uncle, if he makes it big, I guess I'll be surprised.

Goodluck nephew.

And I'm sure by the time Bruno is quite old and a 3 times champion, Mick Schumacher will arrive on the scene at Spa, just like Michael did in Spa 1991, the circle will be complete.

Mick Schumacher has done some karting, nod to future Schumacher legacy. Looks like Senna and Schumacher names will be around in the future perhaps.


Mickyyyyyyyyyyyy!!!!!!!!

[undersquare]

He seems a very nice guy. Not sure about nephews but there's a pretty strong rule that sons of great fathers are always a bit less great. I can't think of any exceptions in F1.

It would be terrific if he is great. But really disappointing if he comes to F1 and isn't.

[daedalus]

Famous name or not, he's doing well in GP2. I wonder if he had started earlier...

[rolf123]

I respect anyone who comes into F1 late. In the modern globalised, capitalist world, there is far too much emphasis on youthful ambition and too little on experience. Where youthful physical makeup is needed, fair enough, but you cannot say this of F1.

[le chat noir]

Originally posted by pedrovski


One word Nepotism. It's the family name thing and that's all, Rosberg Piquet Senna. you don't see Bjorn Borg and John McEnroe's kids at the top level of tennis. Money and the family name like an aristocracy.

i had written a rather good long response. gone now. anyway, amounted to senna not being yoong, and if the second generation can beat their peers it doesn't matter.

followed by a musing on williams seemingly having all the f1 family names:
hill, villeneuve, schumacher, rosberg, nakajima, andretti, piquet, senna, mosley (family name, in f1, but raced in f2). even took webber as the longlost lovechild of jones. don't reckon the mansell boys will make it to f1, but they have the name in the bag if they do, without having to take them on. (they tested hunt, but have been nowhere near kimi 'james hunt' raikkonen.) so which names are yet to pass through their doors? i can think of scheckter, does that count? course, the young 'un never raced, so perhaps not, plus they'd already had max anyway. who else? jackie and paul stewart, still tenuous, but even so, they got jackie involved through rbs. so, who then?

they'll need to employ matthias, should he make it to f1.

[KWSN - DSM]

Bruno is not a bad driver, but neither is he anything special.

He is at best something between Timo Glock and Nelson Piquet Jr.

If he makes it to F1, he will be a journyman driver / middle of the pack, results pending which team diced to sign him.

[Levike]

Originally posted by KWSN - DSM
Bruno is not a bad driver, but neither is he anything special.

He is at best something between Timo Glock and Nelson Piquet Jr.

If he makes it to F1, he will be a journyman driver / middle of the pack, results pending which team diced to sign him.

At monaco and silverstone he wasn't exactly midfield. And for the recent races he's driving too cautiously, the championship in his mind, but at the races he is always catching up to the leaders and finishes on the podium or very close to it. It's not a bad feat. Timo Glock is a great guy, but he is around for many years. He even was in F1 before his late GP2 trip.

[speedmaster]

Originally posted by KWSN - DSM
Bruno is not a bad driver, but neither is he anything special.

He is at best something between Timo Glock and Nelson Piquet Jr.

If he makes it to F1, he will be a journyman driver / middle of the pack, results pending which team diced to sign him.

Would you mind to give me the 5 numbers for the Florida lottery next Wednesday? It will be 45million USD and I'm dying to get it... promise that I will advertise your future reading skills all over....

Please, spare us... everything is possible, he can be the tail, middle or front of the pack. We will only know when (and if ) he gets there - something that I, for sure, wish....

It will be great to have the name Senna back. Racing was never the same after his death.

[Ross Stonefeld]

Having the name back won't actually do anything. Sure you'll sit there on the couch with your eyes filled with tears but that won't mean people will suddenly start passing.

This isn't Ayrton Senna racing again, it's just someone related to him.

[Modern Lover]

Originally posted by undersquare
He seems a very nice guy. Not sure about nephews but there's a pretty strong rule that sons of great fathers are always a bit less great. I can't think of any exceptions in F1.

I do think Nico is better than Keke. The only thing Nico is lacking is a competitive car, something he wont find racing for Williams

[Bloggsworth]

Originally posted by undersquare
He seems a very nice guy. Not sure about nephews but there's a pretty strong rule that sons of great fathers are always a bit less great. I can't think of any exceptions in F1.

It would be terrific if he is great. But really disappointing if he comes to F1 and isn't.

Ascari father and son - Hill never got the chance owing to the weirdness of Frank Williams' driver policy.

[Bloggsworth]

“If you think I’m good, just wait until you see my nephew.”

I never realised that Senna saw his 0 year old nephew drive..................................

[Ross Stonefeld]

Bruno was 11 when Ayrton died. I rather suspect they met from time to time.

[Dudley]

Originally posted by Bloggsworth
“If you think I’m good, just wait until you see my nephew.”

I never realised that Senna saw his 0 year old nephew drive..................................

The quote is at least true.

The rest of the article is of course a complete non-story.

[Bloggsworth]

Sorry, I'll put new batteries in my calculator..................

[postajegenye]

Originally posted by Ross Stonefeld
Bruno was 11 when Ayrton died. I rather suspect they met from time to time.

Sure they did.

[airwise]

Sadly I don't think there's a single driver in GP2 this season that looks like an exciting prospect to me. There's no Kovalainen, Hamilton or Rosberg. It seems a poor year.

As Senna is hardly dominating, I really find the whole saga rather vulgar and disrespectful to the family name and his uncle's legacy.

[Grayson]

Originally posted by pedrovski


One word Nepotism. It's the family name thing and that's all, Rosberg Piquet Senna. you don't see Bjorn Borg and John McEnroe's kids at the top level of tennis. Money and the family name like an aristocracy.

If the son of a great tennis champion wanted to play tennis, he'd be up against hundreds of thousands of other potential top players who start on an even footing with him. Having the £120 racquet instead of the £30 racquet won't help you beat a player who's significantly better than you.

Money and opportunity count in racing - if you come from a wealthy family with racing connections who feel that putting their boy (or, less often, girl) in a top karting championship is a good way to spend the family wealth and who are prepared to consider putting aside tens or hundreds of thousand pounds on a single seater racing career further down the line... Let's just say you'll have a bit more of an opportunity to showcase your talent than the average boy. If you have a famous name, that might also help with sponsorship further down the line.

None of this is of any real use if the talent isn't there, of course.

[Ross Stonefeld]

But talent is relative. If you only have to be the best rich kid...

[SB]

Originally posted by Bloggsworth
“If you think I’m good, just wait until you see my nephew.”

I never realised that Senna saw his 0 year old nephew drive..................................

Watched Ayrton's video "Racing is in my blood" (the green VHS around 1991) ? There was footage about Ayrton was playing with Bruno and Bruno's sister in their home in Brazil during the winter break.

[tidytracks]

Originally posted by airwise
Sadly I don't think there's a single driver in GP2 this season that looks like an exciting prospect to me. There's no Kovalainen, Hamilton or Rosberg. It seems a poor year.

As Senna is hardly dominating, I really find the whole saga rather vulgar and disrespectful to the family name and his uncle's legacy.

Vulgar and Disrespectful? For god's sake, get off your high horse.

There are many exciting prospects in GP2 this year, Senna and Grosjean to name but two. For me however the greatest problem seems to be this trend of rushing drivers through to F1. It means that we will have years, such as this, where GP2 or F3 or wherever, is filled with drivers who don't necessarily have the experience of those who went before.

I blame Kimi and Jenson ;) . Before those guys it was very rare to pluck a kid from obscurity and give him an F1 shot. For heaven's sake, they gave Kimi a provisional super license when he started he was so inexperienced.

Now just take a look at what Senna is achieving this year... and this for a kid still only in his fourth full season of single-seater competition. He's so far behind his rivals in terms of experience, that I feel his performances merit extra plaudits, not derision.

If anything, I'm sure his Uncle would be feeling pretty proud that Bruno is taking on guys who have been racing since they were 5 years old, and showing them all up. He's being bettered only by Pantano, one of the best karters of the modern generation, an F3 champion, F3000 race winner, and the most succesful driver at pre-F1 level of all time.

OK, maybe this year's crop of GP2 drivers needs a few more seasons before they're ready for F1, but thats the problem with the modern rush to push kids into the top echelon. It's why Pantano probably won't get an F1 shot, even if he beats all these supposedly brilliant kids... because nobody wants a 29 year old racer, even though he's proved himself to be the master of his rivals in the same car. No, they'd rather take a 21 year old who'll cost them millions in spare parts as he irons out his creases and matures.

Anyway, back to my original point - I don't know quite who you think you are to decry Bruno's racing career as Vulgar and Disrespectful, but I believe that the air with which he holds himself, and the performances he shows week in, week out, which belie his lack of experience, are a reason for him and his family to feel nothing but pride.

[Levike]

Originally posted by airwise
Sadly I don't think there's a single driver in GP2 this season that looks like an exciting prospect to me. There's no Kovalainen, Hamilton or Rosberg. It seems a poor year.

As Senna is hardly dominating, I really find the whole saga rather vulgar and disrespectful to the family name and his uncle's legacy.

Maybe you didn't see monaco or silverstone.

[TwoCents]

Originally posted by postajegenye


Sure they did.

That is a lovely picture

[airwise]

I'm sorry guys - don't wish to offend but it is my opinion.

I remember Ayrton destroying everyone in FF2000. I remember how the British GP crowd cheered when it looked like he might lose an F3 race for the first time. The guy was head and shoulders above his peers. And he was "rushed" into F1. Nearly won his first wet race too.

All the greats have had the ability to stand out. And to me, if Pantano can comfortably lead the championship this year, then it doesn't suggest there is a Rosberg or Hamilton let alone a Senna or Prost in the field. I hope I'm proven wrong I really do. Let's come back in five years time and see if this years GP2 crop and spawned a true GP star of the future.

[Rabbit123]

I hope he goes with Toro Rosso

[undersquare]

Originally posted by Modern Lover


I do think Nico is better than Keke. The only thing Nico is lacking is a competitive car, something he wont find racing for Williams

Hmm, well, for me Nico isn't looking that special. It seems to me Keke stopped him going to McLaren knowing he'd be murdered by Hammy, and he isn't as highly rated by the other teams as Kubi. No-one's talking about him going to Ferrari. It's his third season, lots of mistakes still and not really thrashing Naka. But there is a question I suppose about how 'great' Keke was. For me, he's a good driver and well worth his place, but not among the greats.

With Bruno, it would be a bit disappointing to have a Senna in the field who can't live up to the name. If he can, of course, it would be beyond fabulous. Senna vs Hammy, what a dream, it makes your mouth water .

[Levike]

I do think he will do really well. His driving is really matured this year. He is driving with the championship in his head, he is not taking risks and delivering the points...and when an opportunity comes he is grabbing it on the neck. At silverstone he made a mistake on the feature race but that's all. Pantano on the other hand had some really lucky wins. Senna's monaco and silverstone wins weren't lucky ones. All of them was well earned and really dominant, flawless victories.

Anyway we will know more after some F1 test whict i can't wait for !

[F1Fanatic.co.uk]

Ayrton Senna: “If you think I’m good, just wait until you see my nephew.”

Perhaps I'm being pedantic, but is that the quote verbatim? It just sounds a bit like a paraphrasing. I've seen this quote from Jo Ramirez:

Ayrton always used to say, ‘You think I’m good, you watch this guy.’

[kenny]

Originally posted by airwise
I'm sorry guys - don't wish to offend but it is my opinion.

I remember Ayrton destroying everyone in FF2000. I remember how the British GP crowd cheered when it looked like he might lose an F3 race for the first time. The guy was head and shoulders above his peers. And he was "rushed" into F1. Nearly won his first wet race too.

All the greats have had the ability to stand out. And to me, if Pantano can comfortably lead the championship this year, then it doesn't suggest there is a Rosberg or Hamilton let alone a Senna or Prost in the field. I hope I'm proven wrong I really do. Let's come back in five years time and see if this years GP2 crop and spawned a true GP star of the future.

Under 'normal' circumstances I would agree...
the only thing different in Bruno's situation is that he is racing for only 4 years... and he is 'already' at the level he is... shows he deffinitely has talent.. and that is the reason why I am not yet making my opinion about him...
let's see if it is enough, and let's see if he can do the Senna name honour...

[Josta]

Originally posted by Ross Stonefeld
But talent is relative. If you only have to be the best rich kid...

Obviously, Kubica, Fernando and Kimi were all rich kids, weren't they?

[Ross Stonefeld]

They had rich backers. For every Kubica Alonso or Kimi there are literally 100 other guys who can pay out of pocket. So even then Alonso/Kubica/Kimi are only beating up on rich kids, not other drivers of their ability.

[Bloggsworth]

Originally posted by airwise
I'm sorry guys - don't wish to offend but it is my opinion.

The guy was head and shoulders above his peers. And he was "rushed" into F1. Nearly won his first wet race too.

Not wishing to offend, but if he hadn't punted Brundle off the track a couple of times he wouldn't have won the British F3 Championship............... Who knows what may have happened if he hadn't.

[airwise]

Originally posted by Bloggsworth


Not wishing to offend, but if he hadn't punted Brundle off the track a couple of times he wouldn't have won the British F3 Championship............... Who knows what may have happened if he hadn't.

Ah but he did it with such panache. Especially at Thruxton.(insert smiley) I was a Brundle supporter in those days too but I suspect Martin would have sadly still ended up at Tyrrell, driven an "illegal" car, and his career would have stalled in the same way. Senna Da Silva was fighteningly consistent up until that British GP support race though if I remember correctly.

[rolf123]

Originally posted by SB


Watched Ayrton's video "Racing is in my blood" (the green VHS around 1991) ? There was footage about Ayrton was playing with Bruno and Bruno's sister in their home in Brazil during the winter break.

Yes, I always remember him on the jetski and the speedboat with Senna. Man, that entire video is imprinted in my brain - I can almost recall every word...let me think for a second.....

"I like to come here and relax, slow down the rythmo"
"We are like children, the only difference is the toys".

And those are just from recall

[Juan Kerr]

Makes me laugh all the negative losers on here determined to look for reasons to knock Bruno Senna, I would so laugh if he made it BIG in F1 when he gets there. Of course who are we to say whether he hasn't got Ayrton's natural ability what are we now experts in the field of genetics ? What do we know also about Ayrton's influences on Bruno the inference was very strong in his early years.
The biggest thing for me is intellect, interest, family pride and massive determination to carry the tradition plus some physical similarities that may have a significant effect. Obviously judging by how quickly he has got upto pace in anything he has driven I'll say the lad has obviously got his own special talent and ability. From what I can see Bruno has an incredible amount of feel for the car and a lot of strength and fitness and they are significant genetic elements that will be common in that close a family link as well as something that can be developed individually.

[bankoq]

Originally posted by Ross Stonefeld
They had rich backers. For every Kubica Alonso or Kimi there are literally 100 other guys who can pay out of pocket. So even then Alonso/Kubica/Kimi are only beating up on rich kids, not other drivers of their ability.

What a rubbish talk! I don't know about Alonso or Raikkonen but Kubica never had opportunity to drive in the winning cars in lower series because he had no money. That's why you can't see F2000 or F3 titles in his CV- he was always driving bad cars because there were no sponsors. Even in Poland when he wanted to find sponsors and said his goal is F1 people only laughed. The first opportunity came in F3 Macau when he switched for the Manor Motorsport for that one particular race and his team-mate was Hamilton (he was already in the team for 2 or 3 years and Kubica was completely new guy). And guess what? He's beaten Lewis in qualy and main race. That's where he was spotted by Mario Theissen. Then an opportunity arised in WSbR 2005 where he got a seat in decent team and won the title.

From the guys driving in F1 right now Robert Kubica had the most difficult way to get there.

[as65p]

Originally posted by Ross Stonefeld
Having the name back won't actually do anything. Sure you'll sit there on the couch with your eyes filled with tears but that won't mean people will suddenly start passing.

This isn't Ayrton Senna racing again, it's just someone related to him.

Wow, I completely agree with Ross about something related to Senna... the world will surely end soon!

Even about the tears part. I already know I'll need a bunch of Kleenex should a Senna ever visit a F1 podium again, but I'm perfectly aware that this will be just silly emotions.

It won't turn back the clock, though.

[Coral]

Well, I for one can't wait to see the Senna name back in F1. Go Bruno!

[Calorus]

Originally posted by Ross Stonefeld
But talent is relative. If you only have to be the best rich kid...

Completely true - but the nature of motorsport is that way. Even now, the vague odds and sods of grass roots motorsport I do costs me upwards of £5,000 a year.

If I wanted to play football, tennis, athletics - professionally that would more than cover my sporting expenses, even with a bit of international travel accommodation factored in.

And spending that much on any of those sports would absolutely guarantee that on the day my performance would be the defining factor between myself and the competition.

The obvious fact is simply that motorsport is simply competitive engineering with a relatively benign driver competition thrown in. On that basis, the best driver might very well not be the the best driver at all - but the one whose marketability is sufficient to give his engineers enough money to give him the best car.

[glorius&victorius]

Originally posted by postajegenye


Sure they did.

nice picture, judging by the haircuts of both, this picture was taken in the same summer that a documentary was made of Senna's life. I dont know how its called but the one where in the end he goes with mostly women friends in a helicopter to an island of the coast where he did running.

In the same documentary there was footage of Bruno racing against Ayrton on the family's kart track. If I remember well, Senna started from the back and Bruno won (or came second). And I am sure Ayrton taught his nephew the basics of karting.

I think Bruno does well in GP2. The field I have to say isn't of the same quality as previous years, but he is doing a consistent job.

If he makes it into F1 I don't expect Bruno to eclipse his uncle. What he should not do is disgrace the Senna name by letting it dangle at the bottom of the time sheets. Then in honor of him he should hang up his helmet: Mission completed... to bring the Senna name back on the F1 grid.

[Calorus]

Originally posted by glorius&victorius


nice picture, judging by the haircuts of both, this picture was taken in the same summer that a documentary was made of Senna's life. I dont know how its called but the one where in the end he goes with mostly women friends in a helicopter to an island of the coast where he did running.

In the same documentary there was footage of Bruno racing against Ayrton on the family's kart track. If I remember well, Senna started from the back and Bruno won (or came second). And I am sure Ayrton taught his nephew the basics of karting.

I think Bruno does well in GP2. The field I have to say isn't of the same quality as previous years, but he is doing a consistent job.

If he makes it into F1 I don't expect Bruno to eclipse his uncle. What he should not do is disgrace the Senna name by letting it dangle at the bottom of the time sheets. Then in honor of him he should hang up his helmet: Mission completed... to bring the Senna name back on the F1 grid.

Seems about right - however Bruno Senna has no responsibilities to anyone. If he's not either driving the car sufficiently well to warrant his position or attracting enough sponsorship to fund his team's progression, then it's for the market to decide his fate.

[Bernd Rosemeyer]

Originally posted by KWSN - DSM
He is at best something between Timo Glock and Nelson Piquet Jr.

Who do you rate higher, Piqurt or Glock?

[Bernd Rosemeyer]

Originally posted by Josta


Obviously, Kubica, Fernando and Kimi were all rich kids, weren't they?

Perhaps. But Mansell or Schumacher were not. And that's the reason why they were so much loved by the masses.

[molive]

Petrobras is being linked to a Bruno sponsorship. Dunno if that's 100% true, but we may actually have a Senna x Piquet battle again in F1.

[Jackman]

Originally posted by glorius&victorius
I think Bruno does well in GP2. The field I have to say isn't of the same quality as previous years, but he is doing a consistent job.

This year's field is quite possibly the toughest there has been in GP2 - there are a lot of drivers with extensive experience, and there's probably only 3 drivers out of 26 who don't really deserve to be there. There have been 9 different winners so far, which shows the depth of talent in the field, which obviously makes it harder to shine.

Ironically in years where there is less talent the cream rises faster and leaves everyone else behind, and then the fans rave about how good they are, when in fact they've had an easier run without the competition: Rosberg's only competition was Kovalainen, Hamilton and Piquet had the top step almost to themselves.

Which makes Pantano and Senna's year even more impressive: they have won multiple races in a field where at least half of the field can legitimately win on their day.

[Levike]

Originally posted by Jackman
This year's field is quite possibly the toughest there has been in GP2

Yes i feel a little bit the same. In the GP2 field now are the guys who were competent enough from the 2005-6-7 bunch to stay plus some new guys like Grosjean who is not exactly slow.
Sot it's not a bad field at all.