98% chance Bruno is going to Williams.

[Massachello]

I don't think that bruno is probably ready for Williams, id say give it another year. Then decide.

Bruno is already old for F1 standards he needs to get going ASAP.

[zurich_allan]

I don't think that bruno is probably ready for Williams, id say give it another year. Then decide.

Bruno is already old for F1 standards he needs to get going ASAP.

Nonsense.

F1 needs to get away from its ridiculous addiction to youth. There is no need for it in motorsport, certainly not to the same level as sports such as football (Soccer), tennis etc. All the talk you get these days of drivers in their mid 30's that should 'move aside to make way for youth' is utter Bull.

Bruno Senna is 28.

Mika Hakkinen was 26 in his first full season as a race driver at McLaren (30 when he won his first title).
Alain Prost was 29 when he went to McLaren (and only won the first of his 4 titles at 30 - the others at 31, 34 and 38).
Damon Hill was 33 in his first season as a race driver at Williams and won the title at 36.
Johnny Herbert was 31 when he won his first race, 35 when he won his last.
Gerhard Berger only went to McLaren a couple of months shy of his 31st Birthday winning his first race at 32 and his last of ten at 38 with wins at McLaren, Ferrari and Benetton all after his 32nd birthday.
Niki Lauda after retiring for a few years came back to F1 aged 32 and secured a 3rd WDC aged 35.
Heck, even Bruno's own uncle won 2 WDC's in his 30's.

Just with that pile of drivers above - total number of WDC's in their 30's (not even counting late 20's) = TEN! I'd hate to even try to add up the number of race wins in that same age bracket just for the 8 drivers above, certainly it would be into three figures.

I could go on and on and on, though I won't as I know full well most of you will be bored already!!

Simple fact is that many great racers in F1 never even got going until their late 20's or early 30's. This idea that success has to come by the time you're 25 or you have no hope is a recent and not a good phenomenon. Absolutely not something that should be either agreed with or encouraged.

[andrew]

I don't think that bruno is probably ready for Williams, id say give it another year. Then decide.

Bruno is already old for F1 standards he needs to get going ASAP.

Indeed, as far as modern F1 drivers go he should be quite far into a long career.

Hopefully he'll get a proper drive at last and finally get going with his F1 career.

[LewEngBridewell]

I don't think that bruno is probably ready for Williams, id say give it another year. Then decide.

Bruno is already old for F1 standards he needs to get going ASAP.

Indeed, as far as modern F1 drivers go he should be quite far into a long career.

Hopefully he'll get a proper drive at last and finally get going with his F1 career.

Better late than never!

[madbrad]

Gerhard Berger only went to McLaren a couple of months shy of his 31st Birthday winning his first race at 32 and his last of ten at 38 with wins at McLaren, Ferrari and Benetton all after his 32nd birthday.

If you mean first win in a Mclaren then OK but if you really mean his first win in F1, that was in Mexico at age 27 in 1986 in the Benetton BMW turbo, the reputed most powerful engine in the field to date at somewhere in the 1400hp range IIRC. The 3 years next in the Ferrari gave him 4 more wins, THEN he went to Mclaren for 1990. He won 3 times with them then one in a Ferrari and one in a Benetton. =10.
He entered F1 in 1984 at age 24(8 days before his 25th birthday) for ATS, in his home grand prix.
An interesting useless tidbit is that Berger and Benetton got their first and last wins together.

I'm not correcting to to challenge your argument. I agree with it.


The reason Bruno is a bit late in joining F1 is that his mother forbade him from racing after his father was killed in a motorcycle accident. He is 10 years behind where he would have been.

[geetface9]

I don't think that bruno is probably ready for Williams, id say give it another year. Then decide.

Bruno is already old for F1 standards he needs to get going ASAP.

Nonsense.

F1 needs to get away from its ridiculous addiction to youth. There is no need for it in motorsport, certainly not to the same level as sports such as football (Soccer), tennis etc. All the talk you get these days of drivers in their mid 30's that should 'move aside to make way for youth' is utter Bull.

Bruno Senna is 28.

Mika Hakkinen was 26 in his first full season as a race driver at McLaren (30 when he won his first title).
Alain Prost was 29 when he went to McLaren (and only won the first of his 4 titles at 30 - the others at 31, 34 and 38).
Damon Hill was 33 in his first season as a race driver at Williams and won the title at 36.
Johnny Herbert was 31 when he won his first race, 35 when he won his last.
Gerhard Berger only went to McLaren a couple of months shy of his 31st Birthday winning his first race at 32 and his last of ten at 38 with wins at McLaren, Ferrari and Benetton all after his 32nd birthday.
Niki Lauda after retiring for a few years came back to F1 aged 32 and secured a 3rd WDC aged 35.
Heck, even Bruno's own uncle won 2 WDC's in his 30's.

Just with that pile of drivers above - total number of WDC's in their 30's (not even counting late 20's) = TEN! I'd hate to even try to add up the number of race wins in that same age bracket just for the 8 drivers above, certainly it would be into three figures.

I could go on and on and on, though I won't as I know full well most of you will be bored already!!

Simple fact is that many great racers in F1 never even got going until their late 20's or early 30's. This idea that success has to come by the time you're 25 or you have no hope is a recent and not a good phenomenon. Absolutely not something that should be either agreed with or encouraged.

Agreed x1000.

[scotty]

Hell, look at Mansell - didn't win a race until he was 32 (i think) and then still took 31 of em including a title at 39 years old!

[nightrider84]

I was disapointed with Bruno's performance last year. The circunstances weren't easy, but I expected a bit more.

I'm hope he joins williams.

[kerc]

I don't think that bruno is probably ready for Williams, id say give it another year. Then decide.

Bruno is already old for F1 standards he needs to get going ASAP.

Nonsense.

F1 needs to get away from its ridiculous addiction to youth. There is no need for it in motorsport, certainly not to the same level as sports such as football (Soccer), tennis etc. All the talk you get these days of drivers in their mid 30's that should 'move aside to make way for youth' is utter Bull.

Bruno Senna is 28.

Mika Hakkinen was 26 in his first full season as a race driver at McLaren (30 when he won his first title).
Alain Prost was 29 when he went to McLaren (and only won the first of his 4 titles at 30 - the others at 31, 34 and 38).
Damon Hill was 33 in his first season as a race driver at Williams and won the title at 36.
Johnny Herbert was 31 when he won his first race, 35 when he won his last.
Gerhard Berger only went to McLaren a couple of months shy of his 31st Birthday winning his first race at 32 and his last of ten at 38 with wins at McLaren, Ferrari and Benetton all after his 32nd birthday.
Niki Lauda after retiring for a few years came back to F1 aged 32 and secured a 3rd WDC aged 35.
Heck, even Bruno's own uncle won 2 WDC's in his 30's.

Just with that pile of drivers above - total number of WDC's in their 30's (not even counting late 20's) = TEN! I'd hate to even try to add up the number of race wins in that same age bracket just for the 8 drivers above, certainly it would be into three figures.

I could go on and on and on, though I won't as I know full well most of you will be bored already!!

Simple fact is that many great racers in F1 never even got going until their late 20's or early 30's. This idea that success has to come by the time you're 25 or you have no hope is a recent and not a good phenomenon. Absolutely not something that should be either agreed with or encouraged.

As a 40 year-old, I strongly agree with this post.

[zurich_allan]

Confirmed! Excellent news!

Brazilian Bruno Senna has signed to drive for Williams in 2012.

The move means the 28-year-old is joining the team for which his uncle Ayrton Senna was driving when he was killed in 1994.

He was preferred to veteran countryman Rubens Barrichello for the position and will partner Venezuelan Pastor Maldonado.

Senna impressed sporadically after being drafted in by the Renault team in the final races of last season.

His only other experience of F1 is spending the 2010 season with the struggling HRT team.

Barrichello, who will be 40 this year, had been hoping to extend his F1 career into a 20th season but Williams preferred to go for the promise and potential of Senna rather than Barrichello's proven pace and experience.

There was support among some sections of the Williams team for Barrichello keeping the drive, on the basis that he is a proven talent and because of his renowned technical expertise.

However, sources close to Williams say the relationship between the driver and the team's management soured over time as a result of the slide in the team's results.

Williams had the worst season in their history in 2011 and are in the middle of a rebuilding process, with a new technical director, chief aerodynamicist and chief engineer, and some in the team felt they could benefit from continuity of drivers and Barrichello's experience.

The only remaining free seat in F1 for 2012 is the second HRT alongside veteran Spaniard Pedro de la Rosa.

But Barrichello is considered unlikely to want to drive for the back-of-the-grid Spanish team.

Veteran Italian Jarno Trulli's tenure at Caterham - who raced as Lotus last year - is also believed to be insecure, but Russian Vitaly Petrov, who drove for Renault in 2010 and 2011, is tipped to get that seat.

Source BBC Sport

[zurich_allan]

Also, there is an excellent 5 minute long video with Bruno at the Willams factory in the museum and simulator, as well as some words from Frank Willams on the front page of the main Williams website here, I'd urge you all to watch it! : http://www.williamsf1.com/

[scotty]

Great news!

[What's Burning?]

You have your AT&T answer there as Embratel is prominent sponsor.

[myownalias]

I think it's great news about Bruno Senna joining WIlliams, I think some people have been harsh on Senna while at Renault, he had an uphill struggle coming in mid-season!

[racechick]

Yesssssss! Great news