Bruno Senna has denied he is paying for his half-season of racing with the Renault team.
The Brazilian has been confirmed only for Spa and Monza, with a judge this week ordering the compromise before a full High Court hearing is held at dumped Nick Heidfeld’s request in a few weeks.
But the intention is that Senna – not GP2 title favourite Romain Grosjean – will complete all of the rest of the grands prix this year alongside Vitaly Petrov.
Renault has said it was unhappy with Heidfeld’s speed and leadership qualities, but paddock speculation has linked the Senna deal with the new Brazilian tie-up between team owner Genii and WWI.
While team boss Eric Boullier denied the Brazilian link, Senna admitted that his presence in the black Renault cockpit could have a commercial benefit for Renault.
He denied, however, that his sponsors are simply paying for the seat.
“If you look at the team then there are no new logos on the car or on myself,” Senna insisted to Germany’s Auto Motor und Sport.
“That is definitely not the reason why I’m sitting in the car. I’m there because the team has faith that I can do a good job.
“Of course there is a large commercial potential for the team with me as a driver and hopefully we can exploit that. But I’m pretty sure I was not selected by the team because of that,” he added.
Source:GMM
