Oliver WhiteNephew of the late Ayrton Senna and GP2 runner-up Bruno Senna will get his first taste of Formula One machinery later this month when he tests for Honda at Circuit de Catalunya in November. The young driver has been linked to many teams through the course of the 2008 season, but with many seats already taken, Senna’s options for stepping up are dwindling. But the test for Honda – at a time when Rubens Barrichello’s future hangs in the air – will be a boost to him.
The young Brazilian driver has been linked to McLaren, Scuderia Toro Rosso and Force India, but Honda have stepped forward and said they will test Bruno in their RA108 later this month. The test will take place between November 17th and 19th, and the team were open about evaluating Senna for a 2009 drive.
We are delighted to provide Bruno with the opportunity to test for us later this month as we continue to explore all the driver options available to us for next season.
After an impressive year in GP2 this will be a chance for Bruno to prove that he is ready to make the step up to Formula One. Our objective is to have the best drivers available to us next season and our evaluation of Bruno’s performance will be rigorous.
We are looking forward to seeing how he performs. Over the next two weeks Bruno will be spending a lot of time with us at our Brackley base, working closely with our engineers and on the simulator to ensure he is fully prepared for this important test. Ross Brawn.
Interestingly, Senna finished in second place in the GP2 championship this year, beaten to the title by former-Formula One driver Giorgio Pantano by twelve points. But most of the interest seems lie with Bruno, who is often said to have a great F1 career ahead of him. Third-placed driver Lucas Di Grassi, who was only one point shy of Senna, has been linked to Renault for some time, having tested for them this year.
I am obviously very excited about being given my first Formula One test and to have that opportunity with Honda is a dream come true. Although I am still only in my fourth year of motor racing, I have wanted to test an F1 car for a very long time and I feel that I am ready for that challenge. Bruno Senna.
It seems Brawn is hesitant to let his experienced and proven winner Barrichello go, but the former-Ferrari strategist is aware that he needs to think about the long-term future of Honda rather than the short-term.
To see the name Senna back on the timing board will bring a lump to my throat, If he`s this good after 4 years, a year in testing then release him 2010 with a Brawn Masterpiece, and Lewis better watch he`s mirrors, but I would race him next year, Why he isn`t Lewis`s team mate is a oppotunity missed by Ron.
I am glad to see Bruno get the chance. I think this year’s GP2 results give a false impression of his ability. Pantano has massive experience at thtat level which is a huge advantage with the new 2008 chassis. Lucas Di Grassi was not supposed to race in GP2 so he spent the winter developing the car. He did all the development driving so when he decided to race he had a huge advantage over anyone else. Bruno in his first year in the championship beat all the other new drivers and looked better than all but two drivers with massively more experience.
McLaren will keep Heikki until they decide Paul di Resta is ready to take on Lewis. Everyone is raving about Vettel. The most important thing in racing is to beat your team mate. In the Euro F3 championship Vettel was second in the championship. His team mate with the same experience and equipment was Paul diResta – the champion. So if people think Vettel could challenge Lewis if he had a McLaren imagine how good diResta must be. Personally I don’t think Vettel would get close to Lewis in equal equipment but diResta just might.
Either way McLaren will be happy. It will either prove that one of the best of the young generation can’t match Lewis in which case Lewis’s status will rise or they find themselves with someone who is better than Lewis.
I think he could be in HOnda, but I hope Ross and everyone in HOnda get a decent 2009 car. I agree with the comment about diResta, but as you all know a seat in F1 is very difficult.
[…] test session at Circuit de Catalunya later this month. It was announced earlier in the week that Bruno Senna would also be present as the team try to decide who should race alongside Jenson Button in 2009. However, with a […]
[…] are due to test two young GP2 drivers later this month (Senna and Di Grassi), and many Formula One insiders are saying that the writing is on the wall for […]
[…] also evaluated Bruno Senna and Lucas Di Grassi in the RA108, allowing both drivers a chance to run around the Catalan circuit. […]