2011 end of term report – Bruno Senna

Bruno Senna made an unexpected come-back in this year’s F1 World Championship in the second part of the season.

He was asked by the LRGP team to replace Nick Heidfeld from the Belgian Grand Prix onwards. He was given eight occasions to show his potential but, despite two points scored, he was not retained by the team for 2012.

Season review

Bruno Senna was released by HRT at the start of the year. A few days later, he attended LRGP new car launch and was unveiled as one of the team’s reserve driver.

After the German Grand Prix, LRGP announced the Brazilian would drive in Friday practice in Hungary. Nick Heidfeld was released in late August and Senna stepped in for him. He made his debut at Spa-Francorchamps but crashed in the first practice session.
However, he bounced back in style from this mistake and qualified 7th. Unfortunately, his lack of experience cost him dearly at the start of the race. He was a bit too fast into Turn One and collided with Jaime Alguersuari. The Toro Rosso driver was forced to retire and Senna subsequently received a drive-through penalty. He finished the race in 13th position.

He qualified 10th at Monza and had, once again, problems at the start. This time, though, he was the innocent victim of an accident caused by Tonio Liuzzi. Relegated at the back of the field, Senna fought hard to move up to 9th place and score two points.

At Singapore – on a track which didn’t suit his R31 characteristics – the Brazilian qualified 15th and finished in the same position. In Japan, he qualified in the top ten but had a bad start and crossed the finish line in 16th place.

Feeling more pressure as the end of the season approached, Senna made some mistakes and failed to score points.

Conclusion

Bruno Senna had a lot to prove in the second half of the season. However, his task was hard with a car not really competitive and difficult to drive. He matched Vitaly Petrov in qualifying but struggled against the Russian in the races.

He was hopeful of being retained by the team for 2012 but received the bad news on December 9th. LRGP opted to sign Romain Grosjean to partner him with former World Champion Kimi Raikkonen.

Highs
—  7th on the starting grid at Spa
—  Scored 2 points in Italy
—  Matched Petrov in qualifying

Lows
—  Collision at the start of the Belgian GP
—  Several tough races
—  Failed to impress

Nextgen-Auto.com marks:
— Olivier Ferret : 11/20
— D.Thys : 13/20
— Sandrine Bouchard : 11/20
— Jean-Michel Setbon : 10/20
— Average mark on the forum Nextgen-Auto.com : 9/20
—  Total : 54/100