Even if Kubica does come back there is no guarantee he is going to be the same driver that he was who knows how the accident will affect him mentally you only have to look at Massa to see that. Edit Sorry I meant to quote cowboy there about rushing Kubica back
I completely agree Mephisto. Unfortunately I think there is an expectation within the public to see every sportsman bounce back. But this can be a bit unfair and sometimes just plain unrealistic. This is particularly true of racing drivers who already live on the edge but then suffer the reality of unforeseen circumstance. It can have a huge psychological impact, even if physical fitness is fully retrieved. Obviously there are exceptions such as Niki Lauda. But the reality is that most never bounce back fully intact.
You know Im hearing stories of 'its a rumour' and not confirmed and im filled with doubt in my mind as I remember the man that started it was: Eddie Jordan
I think this is the most logical reason for the change, wether it will work or not is another matter.
I wasn't too impressed by Senna at Hispania last season. I thought he was very average at best and Karun Chandhok seemed very good as a team mate for him. Of course he brings in money whereas Heidfeld doesn't. To be honest as well I think Renault have treated Nick like **** recently. For one, blaming him for the fire on the car in Hungary was so unprofessional. For sure Heidfeld has struggled but he deserves better.
Can people please stop making claims that Senna is error prone without backing it up, it pisses me off stuff like this: Last season Senna only really had one crash that was driver error related which is less than drivers such as Hamilton, Vettel and Petrov. I am sick of having to make this argument over and over again with people just forgetting or ignoring it. On a more positive note I am really pleased Senna has got his chance to show if he has got anything or not and I hope he does get the drive for the rest of the season to at least give him a chance of getting used to and an understanding of the car and tyres. The reason why I think Renault dropped (or are trying to) Heidfeld is that they signed him up not really as a proper driver like Petrov but a temporary replacement for Kubica in the hope that with his experience he can lead the team and score heavy points like they had hoped from Kubica. I do not really think Heidfeld has lived up to the remit he was brought in for because the car has gone backwards in regards to performace compared to their close competitors and while Petrov has undoubtly improved since last year Kubica was pretty much constantly outscoring him in the races and outqualifying him on average by almost 1 second, but while this year Heidfeld is narrowly ahead on points he is getting destroyed in quali with Petrov beating him by an average of about half a second, has Petrov improved by that much? It is also worth thinking about that Heidfeld has only managed to get into Q3 in about 1 out of 3 attempts while Petrov is getting in almost twice as much and therefore could Heidfeld be getting better race results because of better strategy and more new tyres rather than outright performance? I believe that Heidfeld was brought in to replace Kubica in leading the team high up the grid and to challenge for podiums and perhaps the odd win which is why they wanted his experience and technical input. Renault clearly have not done this for whatever reasons and so you could suggest that now Renault have given up on that target for this season Heidfeld's temporary seat in the team is much less secure and Renault could easily be thinking that now they are not going to achieve that why not bring another driver to replace Heidfeld in filling the Kubica hole which might have some potential and more of a long term which they can also use to bring in some money. I am pretty sure that when Senna signed up with Renault as their reserve driver at the start of the season he was not bringing in any money, certainly not of anything of considerable note. However because of the recent deal with the Brazilian WWI Group this has obviously given Renault (or really Genii and Gerard Lopez) opportunities to get good backing in Brazil. This therefore I think has made the fact that they have a Brazilian driver with the name of 'Senna' no less rather appealing to Renault especially at a time when they are over halfway into the season and their pre-season goals are pretty much over. However I do not think the decision to bring in Senna is just because of the possible financial gains but also the points I have already mentioned about the reasons they hired Heidfeld and the possible potential in Senna, lots of other drivers bring in money but are also hired because of their skill such as the Mclaren drivers, Alonso, Sutil and Perez. They also must believe that Senna has some ability because they are still fighting in the WCC which is very important to them and so they must think that Senna will not be crap and endanger this. This also may well be miles premature but Senna in his very breif running in the Renault has looked close to Petrov, in Hungary on a similar programme to Petrov he was faster, in Q1 today before he lost the rear of his car he had been lapping faster that Petrov when out at the same time and on the same tyres, also again in Q2 when they were lapping in the same conditions (if fuel loads were similar) Senna was again faster. So the very limited sneak view of Senna against Petrov in terms of just plain lapping speed is promising.
I said senna would bin it. And, as usual, i was correct. (apologies for the arrogance, but i'm sick of people defending him)
Yeah that di Resta always bins it. Yeah sorry for the long comment I just kept having points to make.
You know who i mean. Di resta rarely bins it. Sure, he'll lose the odd front wing, but 99% of the time the car stays facing the correct way.
Senna's binned it twice in my memory (one of which being today) and as for "facing the wrong direction" well he spun in Singapore qualy, If Cowboy can think of anymore examples then he should name them. I think he error record is pretty good for a rookie. (look at di resta or Petrov last year) As for speed well its near impossible for him to be faster this weekend but i would hope that by Japan/Korea he will be beating Petrov.
I don't believe that throwing Bruno in the car mid season with so little time behind the wheel of that car will be good for either Renault or Bruno. I could potentially damage Bruno's chances of proving what he is capable of and effect his future involvement in the sport.
It is the way of motor racing that one grabs one's chance when it comes with both hands! Regardless of who or how a driver 'gets back', they are always thankful for the opportunity. If Senna reappeared at a different time or team, he would face a similar challenge. All circumstances are essentially unique and a driver must be adaptable enough to make the best of each and every opportunity.
I doubt that Grosjean would have been too eager to grab that chance with both hands this year. I think he's still putting lard on his blistered fingers from his last attempt at making off with it.
