Bruno Senna

[myownalias]

The problem with Senna is that he's just plain underperformed...

Has he underperformed? maybe this is just as good as he can be; if this is his best; then he hasn't underperformed, it could just be that he isn't cut out for F1!

[LRW]

The problem with Senna is that he's just plain underperformed...

Has he underperformed? maybe this is just as good as he can be; if this is his best; then he hasn't underperformed, it could just be that he isn't cut out for F1!

I think WB can use the word 'underperformed'. He has underperformed to the standards of an F1 driver. Not to his abilities.

But its all semantics. He just hasnt been good enough.

[What's Burning?]

I meant it as in both, underperformed as to the expectations, but also underperformed as compared to his teammates.

Has he shown enough to stay on the grid next year? No.

[racechick]

Oh!

[scotty]

See, i don't think his season was at all helped by losing FP1 to Bottas at something like 75-80% of races. He had over a third less practice time than Maldonado at most events. And in race trim he actually wasn't that far off Maldonado really.

[andrew]

He was a bit of a damp squib. All that hype and then, well, not very much. Disappointing.

[racechick]

I agree Scotty. If one of the top drivers missed out on a practise session it would be used to excuse poor performance in the race. Senna missed loads of them.

[Hammer278]

Lol this guy becomes rich and famous, becomes an F1 driver, and now gets his own thread just because his uncle used to be great.

[What's Burning?]

See, i don't think his season was at all helped by losing FP1 to Bottas at something like 75-80% of races. He had over a third less practice time than Maldonado at most events. And in race trim he actually wasn't that far off Maldonado really.

That is a true statement. I like that he was very pragmatic about it as well, he's not making excuses. But he's just not quick enough in qualifying and he's not going to make up enough ground on Maldonado just by matching pace.

Perhaps if he had more sponsorship dollars, but the only thing he beat Maldonado on was consistency and like they say in car racing it's easier to make a fast car reliable than it is to make a reliable car fast.

[madbrad]

He's as good as half the field, I would say. You need one of the top 3 drivers on the grid to put that Williams on the podium consistently.

[myownalias]

Both drivers failed to deliver in a car that was a genuine top 10 challenging car; Senna more consistently scored points than Maldonado; Maldonado is only ahead courtesy of his win.

Has Senna done enough to remain in F1? it's touch and go to be honest; he had some good points drives, but also had a bunch of lacklustre no points drives. I feel that going to Caterham won't help his cause; Caterham themselves have been disappointing, with all the extra funding, Renault engines, KERS etc; they almost lost out to Marussia who use a Cosworth engine with no KERS.

[darwin dali]

Ahh! Compared to many of his fellow F1 drivers and especially compared to his famous uncle, he's plain sh!te. Reminds me of Nelsinho Piquet. Go drive some nastycars or somtin'!

[racechick]

I think you're being mean to him. There Are drivers in much better cars than the Williams that have had lacklustre non point scoring races.

[What's Burning?]

I think you're being mean to him. There Are drivers in much better cars than the Williams that have had lacklustre non point scoring races.

I think we're an equal opportunity mean team. We're not singling him out per se, just saying that there's only so much you can cultivate some people's potential. With the difficulty in getting a seat in an F1 drive, and with HRT being gone next year, making it even more difficult to break into F1 there is no reason to keep mediocre talent that prevents others from taking their shot. 3 years driving in point scoring cars without making an impact of being noticed for an outstanding performance. Maldonado, Hulkenberg, Perez, Kobayashi, have all had noticeable performances in mid field cars. But it doesn't stop there... he's not been able to beat a team mate so it's not worth keeping a driver around just for sentimental reasons.

[LewEngBridewell]

3 years driving in point scoring cars without making an impact of being noticed for an outstanding performance.

Well to be fair, it's not really 3 years... HRT was not a point scoring car, and he only spent half a year in the Lotus.

But, putting that aside, I agree with your sentiments, WB.