How good is Bruno Senna?
A legendary name returned to the cockpit of a Formula 1 car at the recent Barcelona test, when GP2 star Bruno Senna – nephew of the late, great Ayrton – was given his first proper F1 test as part of Honda’s driver evaluation exercise for 2009.
In his latest feature for itv.com/f1, Mark Hughes explains why it would be wrong to assume that Senna is only in the running because of his family history, and in fact is a genuinely exciting talent whose achievements so far belie his inexperience.
But he also argues that the incumbent veteran whose drive is in jeopardy, Rubens Barrichello, still has a lot to offer.
Bruno Senna pronounced himself satisfied with his Honda test earlier in the week after pounding around for a full day alongside Jenson Button.
This followed a similar test the day before with Senna’s fellow Brazilian and GP2 rival Lucas di Grassi.
They were each given plenty of running, two new sets of tyres and on comparable fuel loads to Button. For the record Senna was 0.3s off Button on the day, di Grassi 0.5s.
They are in effect being auditioned for the 2009 race seat alongside Button, potentially replacing Rubens Barrichello.
Some have questioned why Senna, a driver that failed to win titles in either F3 or GP2, warrants such opportunities – implying that he’s there only because of the drawing power of his surname, the family link to his late great uncle Ayrton and of course the fabulous history between Ayrton and Honda.
But that’s grossly unfair.
Whilst it’s undoubtedly true that the name has helped create opportunities, that it potentially makes any team he drives for a very attractive proposition for sponsors, his progress as a driver in the few short years he’s been racing has been extremely impressive.
Bruno had just begun kart racing as an eight year old when Ayrton died. A year later Bruno’s father was killed in a motorcycle accident and at Viviane Senna’s understandable insistence, Bruno’s racing activities were halted. Apparently permanently.
At 20, old enough to decide his own destiny, he announced he was going to take up motor racing, much to the family’s surprise.
After a few exploratory events in Brazil he moved to the UK in 2004, competed in a handful of Formula BMW and Renault events before making the big jump to F3.
Into the second half of the season he was scoring podium finishes and he followed it up in 2005 with runner-up position in the British championship.
This is way more impressive than it sounds. Virtually every one of the guys he was racing against there had a decade or more of racing experience, most of them in karts by the time they were 10.
Bruno was still learning aspects of racing when he was in F3 that most of these guys had picked up as kids.
Furthermore, the step up to the grip of an F3 car from the nursery formulae is enormous.
Jacques Villeneuve made a similar step back in 1990, moving into the Italian F3 series with very little previous experience – and was hopelessly, and understandably, off the pace. Only in his second year of the formula did Jacques even begin to look competitive.
Bruno adapted much quicker than Jacques, who went onto become a world champion. So let’s not be too hasty.
It was a similar story as Bruno moved up to GP2 in 2007.
One and a bit seasons in F3 and virtually nothing else would not really be considered adequate preparation for the very serious power and grip of a GP2 car that is actually more physically demanding than an F1 machine.
He wasn’t initially a front-runner but he was quick at times and you could see him evolving almost by the race.
He was always very quick in the wet, and had taken some very impressive wet-weather victories in F3 – a sure sign that there is a good level of talent underlying a driver’s performances.
Into 2008 and he was always a front-runner, fighting for the title from beginning to end.
The guy is still developing at a faster rate than those around him – for very obvious reasons.
That’s not to say his ultimate ceiling will necessarily be higher, but what we do know is that even still on a steep learning curve he’s already one of the fastest guys outside of F1, and that after just his fourth season of racing of any kind he can lap an F1 car competitively.
On that basis alone, he’s an exciting prospect, regardless of his surname.
But spare a thought for the guy he could be replacing, a driver who’d already been in F1 a year when eight-year old Bruno had his first kart race, yet who this year was still performing as well as he’s ever done.
Barrichello has a more adaptable driving style than Button, allowing him to drive around a bad car’s problems better.
He’s also very, very good at analysing the dynamics of a car and enabled Honda to learn things Button hadn’t uncovered.
That latter skill has been a bit wasted with the awful cars Honda has provided with for the past two years, but it just might be a very valuable trait next year, with the first design presided over by Ross Brawn.
For this reason, the team will have probably been paying very close attention to the quality of Senna’s feedback during his test.
Di Grassi is renowned for his great analytical approach and it can be taken as read he will have passed that test with flying colours.
Senna’s a bright, intelligent guy, totally immersed in his racing, and it would be surprising indeed if he hadn’t also passed the technical test.
See what odds you can get for him getting that drive – and put your money down.
.
