Senna gets Williams seat

[FW17]

Will Chris Goodwin still be by his side?

[djos]

Im rather pleased Senna got the remaining Williams F1 seat, last year imo he showed flashes of brilliance in the Renault and im looking forward to seeing what he can do when given a car from day 1.

[Gerhard Berger]

Good luck to him.

[Raptor22]

Super stoke for Bruno.

I can imagine there are going to be tears in the Williams garage when he pulls that Yellow helmet on and take the car out for the first time. Even Adrian Nwey may become emotional for a few seconds

[allstaruk08]

im glad he's got a seat but im a bit worried for williams in not having an experienced driver like rubens to give precise feedback to the team

[mx_tifoso]

Based on the last few years performance I doubt whether having Barrichello will matter at all. What the team needs is a freshening up while having a better sense of direction and implementation. Fix the team then you can have top drivers. But I certainly hope that Senna fulfills his expectations.

[Tozza Mazza]

Senna quite clearly has some pace, he wouldn't be in F1 otherwise, and was able to match Petrov last year.

If he brings money to the team also, you can see why he was chosen.

Good choice by Williams, hoping for a change in fortune for them in 2012!

P.S: mx_tifoso, has your username changed?

[mx_tifoso]

Yes, I recently changed it since it was bugging me for a long time now. Tifosi is plural and tifoso is singular.


But the fact that Senne replaced Barrichello shouldn't be surprising, given that Williams has replaced many key people that weren't cutting despite their seniority.

[waynes]

personally i let out a big "YES" when i saw the news Bruno had signed, then it dawned on me "Senna signs for Williams Renault" as a headline

Bruno clearly has raw speed, i hope the package williams deliver is up to it as i reckon he could really surprise a few people how quick he really is

oh, and some of the negativity on here is astounding. may i remind you that one Michael Schumacher paid for (well not him but Merc) his jordan drive

everyone starts somewhere

[ringo]

Williams will benefit finiancially more than we imagine.
So many opportunites have opened up with having a Senna in their car.
They don't look so dull to sponsors now at all.

I guess the last touch is to give Bruno a makeover to look more like his uncle and the money will come barreling in.

He'll do ok, but Maldonado's speed is grossly underestimated. Pastor will dominate him in qualifying. Senna will be steadier in the race and probably the team leader in terms of insight into progressing the car.

[Hangaku]

I really think that Williams' weakness last year was their engine. Senna driving combined with a return to Renault, smells like a win for me. Maybe not on day one, but it's not as if Senna has never driven a car before. He has racecraft, so people saying he's inexperienced is really very short sighted.

[dren]

He has 1.5 years in F1 so far. You should expect his experience to be adequate at this point. It sounds like he keeps improving which is needed. But we have to remember Williams is a publicly traded company. They most certainly chose him for the name and money.

[SeijaKessen]

I really think that Williams' weakness last year was their engine. Senna driving combined with a return to Renault, smells like a win for me. Maybe not on day one, but it's not as if Senna has never driven a car before. He has racecraft, so people saying he's inexperienced is really very short sighted.

I agree.

What I find interesting is that a lot of people forget Bruno didn't race for 10 years after Black Sunday. How many driver's out there did not race for 10 years and then still managed to get into F1? I know plenty have been saying it's the name, but realistically, while it helps, if he sucked, the name would not have helped at all.

[raymondu999]

For what it's worth; in the two GP2 seasons Senna had with Maldonado (both contested in 2007 and 2008 GP2 seasons) Senna outscored him both times; though I seem to remember that Senna's 2008 runner up spot was more due to a Button type "keep the car in 1 piece" attitude rather than outright speed.

[PlatinumZealot]

That style should be good for midfield points collecting. As Alguesuari showed, raw speed is not needed in early race midfield running.