Bruno’s garage. I sort of forgot that being able to walk on the track afterwards lets you see the garages so I got beyond excited, skipped the party at RBR and went straight to the end. It was extremely surreal, not gonna lie, to see this in front of me, instead of seeing it on tv like I have done for the past four years (granted, GP2 he didn’t have much of a garage but still).
SENNA: DON’T JUDGE ME
BRUNO SENNA has told his critics — don’t judge me until the end of the season.
The knives are already out for the Williams driver – who has the most famous surname in motorsport – after a mixed start to the year.
His solid performances in Malaysia and China have been scrubbed out after failing to finish in the points in Bahrain, Barcelona and Canada.
The 28-year-old has the added pressure of living up to the reputation of his late uncle, and three-time world champion, Ayrton.
Senna admits he initially struggled to cope with those high expectations at first but has now backed himself to finish this season strongly.
He said: “There is pressure that comes with my surname, plus people think this is my third year in Formula One, which it is not.
“In the beginning it was very tough because I did not have any experience. I did not know what my potential was.
“People were expecting me to be three-time world champion Ayrton in his 20th year of motor racing when actually it was only my first year of motor racing.
“I got some bad comments and it was difficult to take but now I know that those people do not understand motor racing.
“Those comments did hurt. It always does when you read something negative about you but I realise that those people are fickle.
“Brazilian sports fans have been spoilt. We’ve had three multiple world champions and people expect you to be one of them.
“If you are not, then in their eyes you are the worst driver in the world – it is like in football too with the national team.
“This is the first time I have been in a competitive car with a proper structure behind me, so I am taking my time to learn it properly instead of trying to do everything all at once.
“I think people should look at me and make their judgement at the end of the season. If you look at a few of the drivers, they were not as strong in their first year.
“But I am sure the second half of the season will be easier because I will have some experience of those tracks from last year, but it is a learning curve.”
The pressure has been cranked up on Senna after his team-mate Pastor Maldonado held his nerve to beat local hero Fernando Alonso at the Spanish Grand Prix.
The race earlier this season will be better remembered for the fire that broke out in the team’s garage afterwards, but it has also made an impression on Senna, who will compete in the British Grand Prix for the first time on Sunday.
Naturally, he is keen to repeat Maldonado’s heroics and net his maiden GP win, as it would silence his critics and go some way to securing his seat with Williams for next year.
He added: “You want to win every race but you need to be realistic. It is going to be tough to match Pastor, because he did a great job.
“But if I do well enough until the end of the season, then I will stay here. It is a great team which is like a family.
“Given the results, I would like to stay in this team for a long time so it is important that I get the results.”
(Source: Ben Hunt, The Sun)
Hey guys can we talk about how an article in the fucking Sun nearly made me cry this morning?
All of the above ^
Also, it both breaks my heart and makes me unbelievably happy what he said about Williams. All I’ve ever really wanted for him in racing is to be with a team he’s happy with, like, honestly happy. Yeah, he wanted to keep his seat at LRGP, but I don’t think the reasoning behind that was particularly to do with how content he was with the people (lol Boullier) or how he was treated.
And considering the bullshit he’s having to put up with re:FP1s this season and blatant favouritsm, to say he wants to stay in the team for a long time shows how happy he is with at least the engineers and mechanics he works with, I think. Like you said, maybe it comes off worse from the outside.
And what he said at the end confirms my optimism that he still has a chance of keeping his seat here next year, as long as he starts to improve. Which he will, or at least will be given the chance to, because soon he will be driving tracks he knows better and perhaps the lost FP1s may make less of a difference. I’m proud of him either way.
