Williams should give Senna his fair share of track time

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Williams will give their test driver Valtteri Bottas his second run in an F1 race weekend during practice for the Chinese Grand Prix tomorrow.

As in-season testing has been largely banned since 2009, this is the best way for teams to give up-and-coming drivers valuable seat time in a current car.

The unfortunate down-side to this arrangement is that one of the teams’ regular race drivers must give up their car for 90 minutes of the four hours’ practice they get at a race.

Previously teams have tended to rotate which of their drivers has to give up their seat, to make sure neither is unfairly disadvantaged.

Force India did so with Paul di Resta in 2010, with Nico Hulkenberg and with Jules Bianchi this year. Renault and Lotus also operated similar arrangements last year.

But Williams have decided not to split the time evenly between their two drivers when running Bottas. Instead, Bruno Senna will have to give up his car every time Bottas is given a run. Pastor Maldonado will not have to give up his car as much as once.

With Bottas set to appear at every non-street race, Senna stands to miss out on over a dozen practice sessions this year – a significant amount of time which will leave him playing catch-up to his team mate almost every weekend.

This unfair and unsporting arrangement reflects poorly on one of the sport’s most historic teams.

It’s true that it’s not always possible for teams to give their drivers exactly equal treatment. For example, when there is only one example of a new part available.

But this is different: as their rivals have demonstrated, there is no reason why Williams shouldn’t be able to swap which of their drivers has to give their seat up.

Given that, it raises further questions about whether Williams are prioritising drivers based on their talent or the amount of money each brings to the team.

It is especially unfortunate this should happen to Senna, who has always been playing catch-up to his peers when it comes to track time.

He spent almost a decade of his youth out of motor racing following the death of his uncle Ayrton Senna.

When the younger Senna signed with Williams he was mindful of the historic association between his uncle and the team, and was at pains to point out his family had given the move their blessing.

I wonder if they did so knowing he was going to receive such shabby, second-class treatment.

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Keith Collantine
Lifelong motor sport fan Keith set up RaceFans in 2005 - when it was originally called F1 Fanatic. Having previously worked as a motoring...

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92 comments on “Williams should give Senna his fair share of track time”

  1. Bruno should mary a Williams shareholder :D

    1. Is Claire Williams still single?

    2. LOL@tango, maybe Claire Williams is still available?

      1. best idea in the history of ideas

  2. Williams shouldn’t have to do anything. What Williams should do, and apparently ARE doing is what is best for them.

    Clearly there is more money from Maldonado’s side of the garage, and money dictates F1, note: Bahrain.
    Pointless article if I’m being frank. Heck, it could even be a clause in Maldonado’s contract stating that he must participate in all practice sessions.

    1. False rumor #1 : Williams give priority to the richest driver
      Fact : Williams has a long legacy to which “insert comment”

    2. Yes, money dictates F1 @timi, I have read that it is indeed Maldonado’s contract guaranteeing him not to have to give up his seat for the FP sessions (nor races). And Senna having agreed with giving up the seat time, as by the time he signed on Williams had already contracted Bottas to do those 15 FP sessions.

      That does not change the fact that its unfair towards the drivers and not equal treatment of the both of them.

      1. @bascb you’re right, but I don’t see the point of the article 2 races in to the season when it is near impossible for the senna-bottas situation to change before next season. The timing just seems very odd to me!

        and @tango it’s not a false rumour, F1 requires millions upon millions to run a team. The amount of pay drivers on the grid proves teams will show favour to a richer driver

        1. As for timing of the article, I guess that before the season there was not much time to put up this question, given that Bruno was signed only shortly before it started for real. And the details of the Bottas deal have emerged only after that.

        2. @timi It’s a bit fatalistic to assume you can’t change something that hasn’t happened yet – after all Bottas has only done one practice session so far.

          Of course there may be contracts and agreements in place but these sort of things get renegotiated all the time in Formula 1.

          1. @keithcollantine You’re right it is fatalistic to assume you can’t change something which hasn’t happened yet, which is exactly why i chose my words very carefully.. “near impossible”.

            I personally just don’t see it happening, but I may well be wrong, only time will tell.

        3. @timi : I was poking fun at Williams by referring to the exchange between Lotus and Sniff Petrol

      2. +1.

        Yes. The fact it is , doesn’t mean it should be.

        However, seems that Pastor needs more practice than Bruno…

    3. Luiz Fernando
      12th April 2012, 16:05

      For sure there is such clause, as well as there´s a clause in Senna´s contract stating that Williams can name any other guy to drive the car in FP1… It´s been clear right from the start, folks. I´m writing from Brazil and the media here has always said so, as well as Bruno himself in many interviews right after closing the deal. Bottas is the real deal and he should be driving alongside Rubens this year if money had been no object.

    4. The article is not pointless. Keith probably has a very good image among F1 insiders and F1F is well read, so an article like this one could be a nudge in the right direction. Why do you think Keith keeps posting against Bahrain?

      Kudos to you, Keith.

  3. maybe he just does not pay enough not to share friday practice with bottas. just a thought

  4. It is unfair but I’m presuming it was written in Bruno’s contract that he would have to sacrifice his sessions. So it’s fair in that sense as he has agreed to it. Senna is clearly only here for 1 season before being turfed out for Bottas. Williams must see Maldonado as a long term driver, so they would much rather he learns as much as he can rather than the driver who will be out next year.

    1. not that Senna had much choice in that, either agree with giving up the FP session or letting the race drive go altogether, I guess.

    2. I doubt Williams see either driver as a long term prospect. Neither can they afford to argue the terms of the contract lest the money be whipped from underneath them.

      I guess the proof will be in the pudding – if Senna consistently outperforms Maldonaldo yet is given the short stick at every opportunity because he’s not the predominant bankroller, he’ll leave.

    3. I don´t think many people know this but a lot of information about PDVSA sponsorship with Williams has surfaced in Venezuela, the contract has been out there on the internet for months now even the invoice! which was for 29 mill euros I think. Anyway, the contract does say that there has to be a venezuelan in EVERY session on each race weekend (not necessarily Pastor) and I think the contract is for 5 years so get used to it, if you don´t believe me search for it, it’s in spanish though…

      1. It begs the question as to what Williams would do if Maldonado is injured. They’d have to find another Venezuelan with a super license of be in breach of contract?

  5. Unfortunately it just gives credit to the view that Senna is just warming Bottas’ seat. I’d be really surprised if he’s still with Williams next year.

    1. Maybe they’ll let Valtteri have a go at a race as well, similar to Nakajima in 2007?

      1. By the way, where’s Nakajima?

        1. Formula Nippon, Japanese GT and Le Mans with Toyota

    2. Bottas seems to be quick, how quick we dont know but certain is that Maldonado is beating Senna, and thats not what Williams wants despite all sponsors having a pay driver can only hurt your chances, folllowing the same logic williams should dedicate more time to Senna, trying to see if he can pick up his pace cause clearly the Williams has pace.

  6. Luigi Carneiro
    12th April 2012, 15:02

    Agree with Keith. It makes no sense why not split it equal.
    But i believe Bruno who is a complainer, just take it as an extra challenge to the many he faces.
    The unfair part of it is while the third driver will not be working race set up, the lap times are not realistic. Then Bruno gets in the car in session 2 and has to work towards race program and most likely will go slower then Bottas. Then the comparisson is made. But Senna would be fine. It might be great to be a Senna, but the guy lost his uncle and his dad withing 12 months of each other. So missing a session would be ok for him.

    1. Luigi Carneiro
      12th April 2012, 15:03

      Sorry i meant to say that Bruno is NOT a complainer

  7. @Keith…I agree that this is unfortunate, unfair, unsporting, and shabby…all those words you used. The only ‘good’ news here is that at least Senna ‘only’ has to give up 90 minutes out of 4 hours of practice time, but your points are well taken. I think this speaks to the unfortunate circumstances right now that F1 is in with their limited testing and many teams’ financial need for pay to play drivers, forcing this type of thing to occur. There’s GOT to be a better way. A compromise between economic reality and common sense.

    I also question whether pay to play drivers are worth the money they bring…what good are a relative handful of millions if it is going to be squandered by not having the best drivers possible to a) keep the car between the ditches and as high up on the grid as possible on Saturday and Sunday (which would bring money and exposure to the team through being more attractive to sponsors) b) help develop the car (which would do the same as the first point) and c) ensure that in the pinnacle of racing we are seeing the pinnacle of drivers.

    The money a pay driver brings might help them this year to survive the everyday costs of running a team, but the general quality of drivers who can only get a ride because of the money they have, ensures that this is only short term band-aid thinking that won’t further a team in terms of progress up the grid.

    1. I believe this is where Williams thought they were last year – Maldonaldo was there to bring in pennies whilst Barrichello was the old guard with a proven record able to fight for points.

      It’s a shame the terrible car scuppered that one.

  8. Sometimes I feel like F1 is more of a business than a sport. This clearly comes down to money: not only this issue, but also other political stuff that is happening right now (for instance Bahrain). Formula 1 should be about which constructor can build the best car and which driver can drive his car the quickest. I really hope F1 stops wandering off to Formula 1 Inc. and starts being a sport again. Then we will see more sportive behavior at Williams for example.

    1. I am not sure why you are under the illusion that F1 is about anything other than money. F1 isn’t the pinnacle of motorsport because it has the best drivers or the most creative engineers, although it does have both of those things – it’s because it has the most money.

      1. That’s the entire point: why does everything has to do with money? That’s just sad.

      2. I sort of disagree with the theory of F1 drivers being the best drivers in the world; rally drivers are arguably better, as they drive on a large variety of surfaces, and this theory is proved by the amount of them that win the ROC.
        F1 drivers are the finest circuit racers in the world, but rally drivers are more adaptable and arguably more complete.

  9. It certainly isn’t a vote of confidence by Williams on Bruno Senna, but if Williams doubted Senna’s talent why hire him for 2012? If Bottas is the next ‘big thing’ Williams have unearthed, then he should have been paired with Maldonado instead of Senna in the first place!
    There are those that do doubt Bruno Senna’s true worth, and who claim he is only in the sport because of his late uncle Aryton. However, we have seen some promise from this young man and he by no means the worst driver on the grid at this moment in time.

    1. but if Williams doubted Senna’s talent why hire him for 2012?

      I think it’s been covered a few times already, but it could be about the amount of money he brings to the team? If he had not agreed to giving up his track time, no doubt Williams would have moved to Sutil (prior to his court case) due to all the sponsorship he had from Medion. Failing that, as you suggest, Bottas might have even gotten the race seat and another GP2 graduate been given the FP1 track time. But given that Bottas probably brings less money with him, he would have been at least the third choice. Were Williams in a better financial position, then they could have looked at bringing in Bottas immediately, or Alguesuari, for example.

    2. I think, bizzarely, that it could mean the opposite: they have masses of confidence in him, so he doesn’t need all of those sessions. But I agree with you as well.
      just thought to post a different take on precedings

      1. In theory, he’s more experienced than Maldonaldo (based on race starts).

  10. It is a crying shame that Bruno has to give up his car so often, it must be hard, especially since he hasn’t been given a 100%, give it your all, fully prepared season in anything since GP2. I am adamant that he is a damn fine racer, and deserves to be on the grid, and doesn’t deserve all the knock backs he has taken over the years

    1. Yeah…to your point, his true potential is not being realized as we aren’t getting to see the 100% backed driver, but something less. There HAS to be a better way.

      Example, I would think it would be a good investment, not something to be considered an added cost, to have the teams be allowed a couple of in-season test sessions a year by staying on at a few venues past the race weekend (they’re already there anyway) where their two main every-Sunday drivers are not to attend, and use those as both for testing new components, setups, or what have you…anything they want to…but with their young hopefuls and/or their pay drivers… thus leaving the more important pre-race practice sessions for the main guys.

      1. They could even make FP1 only for drivers who are not due to be in that race, that’d be interesting and we’d get some variety in the cars!

    2. I’m right there with you on this one. I’d love to see him get a truly full and proper season in F1, but it seems every year there’s one thing or another standing in his way.

      That said, if there’s one thing Bruno has gotten used to over his years in F1, it’s working his way through (many) challenges. He also generally seems to respond well to pressure. It could end up being a great motivator for him, or at least that’s what I’m hoping! That’s certainly how it appeared in Malaysia; he was clearly not too pleased to have to correct Martin Brundle in interview re: Williams NOT swapping Bottas between the two cars (which Brundle assumed they’d be doing, as it’s the most obvious, and fair, choice to make), then turned around and got his best F1 finish.

  11. Luiz Fernando
    12th April 2012, 16:01

    At least here in Brazil it was VERY clear right from the start that those were the terms of his agreement Williams. No reason to complain now… Bruno knew right from the start that Bottas would drive the car on fridays.

    1. Yeah ok…fair enough…and maybe Bruno is not complaining. But Keith is. And I take his point. It speaks more to the state of F1 in my view as it does to the unfairness of it, even if Senna is resigned to it and has gone in eyes wide open to his contract. Senna may have known and agreed to this all along but he still gets curtailed in potential come the end of the day.

      1. I fully agree with the in season 3rd driver test sessions, its rather insane that they don’t have any in season testing, bar the crowbarred(?) in session in a few weeks.

        I guess Bruno is just going to have to accept the odds seemingly are always against him, and show us all what he can really do!

      2. Luiz Fernando
        12th April 2012, 18:08

        It speaks volumes, indeed… Bruno is there because of OGX, Gillette and Embratel. Bottas is there because he is pretty damn good. The whole process of hiring Bruno was absurd, IMHO. The guy was here speaking out loud to the press: see, I´ve been tested and I´ve passed, I´m not a pay driver! Come on… If you have to hire Rob Walker to say whether the kid can drive or not, what do you make of it? No need to wonder, Keith. They always knew…

  12. Bottas is a (very) promising young driver who needs track time in a F1 car. Williams have offered him that. Maldonado as the (default) lead driver within the team has probably been offered something that stops him from having to give up his track time on a race weekend, a clause in his contract at a guess. Senna, for whatever reason, has not been offered this grace by the team. Ultimately, Williams have to do what they decide is best for them as a team. It’s not just about individual drivers.

    Obviously you could argue that, as the more experienced driver having been at the team for a season already, Maldonado should be the one to give up his FP1 sessions to maximise Senna’s tracktime. However, Maldonado would not see it this way and I would bet that his reaction would be rather negative and nobody at Williams would want a situation like that.

    Perhaps they only see Senna as a stop-gap solution whilst they try to generate funds from elsewhere (based on performance and race results, a “hey, look, we’re not actually dead and buried” message) and are ready to drop him next season in favour of a Maldonado/Bottas line-up.

    Or, perhaps they believe Senna is a more gifted driver so doesn’t need as much track time as the less impressive Maldonado and they’re actually looking at dropping Maldonado next season in favour of a Senna/Bottas line-up.

    Who knows!?

    Overall, I liked the article but yes, timing is perhaps a little late. It is unfair that they’re not splitting the track time between their two drivers. But, as I said, it’s about what’s best for the team. Senna, whilst I don’t particularly rate him as a world-beating driver (still better than Maldonado), will most likely over-come this challenge though. He has shown on occasion that, despite being 10 years behind his peers in terms of development, he can still match them.

  13. mayhemfunkster
    12th April 2012, 16:30

    I suspect Maldonado has a contract saying he is in the car for all sessions. Perhaps he is in Bruno’s car because they had chance to put it in his contract?

    1. I suspect that is the case. After all, Bottas was signed after Maldonado, but before Senna…

  14. I dont see the problem with it. Drivers are nothing but employees. They are no more entitled to anything than the engineer next to them.

    1. Yeah, @infy, you’re partly right, but depriving Senna of track time means that his performances will probably be worse than they could be – which in effect means less points and less money for Williams at year’s end. Of course that is probably offset by money from Maldonado and Bottas, but a possible lower place in the championship damages the team’s image and sponsorship value, too. And it may also affect their market value – after all they went public, didn’t they?
      Williams team probably treat this year as a transitional period from the disastrous 2011 season. But if their hopes and calculations go wrong (we should also include the threat of halting Maldonado’s backing due to uncertain political situation in Venezuela) the team’s future will look bleak.
      And let’s hope that sudden and unexpected departure of Adam Parr wasn’t an ominous sign of things to come.

      1. It swings both ways. By not giving Bottas track time they will really hurt themselves if one of their main drivers cannot race for what ever reason. It seems like a safe and sensible plan once you take that into consideration.

    2. I don’t believe that the drivers are employees. I think most of them have some sort of service contract with the teams. As in the team pays the drivers company rather than the driver directly. What they are entitled to could be vastly different, and that’s what we are seeing here.

      1. How ever way you look at it, they are paid by the team and thus are there for the team. They are at the end of the day paid to do a job for the team.

  15. I’m glad to see such an outspoken article in a time where people are very afraid to say what they actually feel and sit on the fence. I can’t agree more Keith that it is such a shame that a team like Williams with a great past should treat Senna like this.

    I really think that Senna is a talented driver and deserves a good opportunity which Williams seemed to provide. I just hope that they change their mind and give Bruno a fair chance

    1. One of the absolute constants in Williams history is that the team has never regarded drivers as anything beyond interchangable parts. Even world champions (Mansell, Hill) have been discarded if the team believed they were not a good use of resources or that more talented options were available. Appealing to Williams’ past as a motivator to treat a driver properly seems like a strange approach.

      1. @Ilanin, exactly so, treating drivers shabbilly is the Williams way and the reason I didn’t mourn their trouncing by Ferrari and further decline into the back end of the midfield, now they have a promising car I hope Frank retires and more enlightened leadership can once more make them a winning team, with the emphasis on team.

        1. Frank Williams made this decision back in the 80’s when Alan Jones left for greener pastures out of the blue following his success at the team.

          It hurt Frank (& Patrick) so they made the conscious decision to never form emotional attachments to drivers – he views them as mercenaries after personal glory (which is pretty much correct) and treats them as such. This is pretty open, so I guess drivers don’t join Williams expecting anything but.

  16. Giving race weekend time to a third driver is nonsense. Why delute your regular drivers efforts? The testing ban is a flawed concept and should be altered. The third driver obviously needs seat time but not at the expense of regular drivers. Few third drivers ever see any race time during a season anyway.

    Can’t imagine the Beatles having Ringo just play for them in practice. When they decided Pete Best was out, they went full time with Ringo and that worked out OK for them.

    Better results come from maximizing individual efforts. Pick the best driver and give his chance….give him the 100% he deserves and let the results fall where they may. If he is not good enough then get another drummer.

  17. I think Williams shouldnt give bottas so many sessions, Senna is clearly struggling to get to the pace of Maldonado, Senna is new to the team, not F1, they should support Senna to make sure Williams gets the best results possible, Williams cant spoil the opportunity of wining races again.

  18. There’s examples of similar situations in other sports (soccer, rugby, basketball, whatever..) players enter with contracts dictating how much they’ll play among other things.
    And they’ll have to sit on the bench while young upcoming players are trialed and players who negotiated better terms get preferential treatment.

    My point is that this is sport, this is a non issue.

    1. While I do agree with you about players in other sports riding the pine at times, I think car racing is different in that there is no substitute for seat time when so much depends on a driver gelling with a team and a car and having input into optimum setups etc etc.

      A soccer, rugby, and basketball player may suffer to some extent from limited play against the best in the league in games that count, but nothing prevents them from training and practicing in a virtual unlimited fashion while they wait in the wings. Sometimes they are sent down to the lower rung of leagues while scouts watch them as to their potential to be brought back up to the majors, so they are actually playing all the time.

      F1 drivers only get training at driving in F1 when they have the car under their butt.

      1. I’m not convinced @robbie for 2 reasons;

        1. Gelling with the team is vital in other Team sports, playing with other players is no substitute.
        2. Drivers can use extremely realistic simulators to hone their skills in an F1 car

        I don’t think the difference is that great and this type of behavior is accepted in other sports.

        1. Ok, fair comment…I still say simulators have little to do with setting up and gelling with the actual team and car that they will be working with, let alone racing in anger, and the very fact that such sophisticated equipment and access to it is necessary for F1 drivers to do their sport vs. needing a good pair of shoes to me makes a huge difference. And I do take your point about gelling with a team in other sports too, which is why I said “A soccer, rugby, and basketball player may suffer to some extent from limited play against the best in the league in games that count” but at least these guys/gals can play scrimmages, partake in practices, and play in leagues one notch down to keep their skills honed on a daily basis. Nobody is scouting F1 drivers based on how they do in simulators. F1 drivers have very limited opportunities over a relatively very small number of days throughout a year to do their thing.

          I think that while this type of behaviour is accepted in other sports as you say, it is also ‘accepted’ in F1, seeing as how it is the reality of the likes of Senna, but most here think there must be a better way and it points to the state of the ‘league’ called F1, which has had to change in a global economic downturn that sees teams needing pay drivers due to lack of sponsor money. I don’t think the sports you are talking about are having to make too many concessions when it comes to their top athletes, in spite of budget caps, and they aren’t having to put pay players who’s practice times are limited out on the field/court to compete for the big cup.

  19. Bruno needs more time in the car, especially given that this is his third race at Williams (Ayrton had three at Williams before his death, due to his crash in the third at San Marino). We certainly don’t want a repeat of THAT.

  20. All Williams are doing is giving the less skilled driver more track time. Senna will adjust to the Williams and probably be blowing Pastor out of the water by mid season, why make the guy fronting more of the bills look like even more of a joke if you don’t have to. Good call Frank

  21. If we’re still not going to have any in season testing then I think it would be interesting if FP1 was only for drivers not competing in the championship.

    Drivers having less time to set up the car over the weekend might actually be quite interesting.

  22. I find Williams’ arrangement absolutley ridiculous! I must point out that I am a fan of Senna and a Pastor hater, but I think if any team favoured one driver over the other, they would find themselves losing fans. I must say that I lost respect for Force India last season as they seemed to give the Hulk more tracktime in PDR’s car when he was a rookie, and trying to get up to speed with life in the single seaters after being in DTM for a while, plus when he was doing Fridays, Paul alternated with Adrian and Tonio’s cars, so why couldn’t Nico go into Adrian’s car for the first few races, (I should confirm that I am aware Nico drove Adrian’s cars in the later races). I do hope that Force India don’t do the same with Nico and Paul this year with Bianchi.

  23. Well a positive side for Bruno is when he beats Maldonado, like he did in Malasia, us all knowing Maldonado had more time in the car (plus possibly preferencial treatment) and still got beaten makes him look bad and Senna a lot better.

    I wonder, How high up the points table or how big the difference between Senna and Maldonado’s points has to be before Willams decide this approch could not go on. The Williams car already is very good (massive inprovement on last year) What if Williams bring out an upgrade that puts them challenging for podiums? Would Senna still have to give up his first practice sessions?

    Anybody know the highest race result for a driver who has had to give up their seat in FP1?

  24. I doubt Bruno cares too much at the moment, he’s the only points scorer for Williams thus far.

    On paper, yes, it looks unfair. However, it all depends on contracts. If Senna knew what he was getting into then fair enough.

    Perhaps he should take it as a compliment that the team don’t consider him to need as much practice? ;)

  25. Williams have decided not to split the time evenly between their two drivers when running Bottas. Instead, Bruno Senna will have to give up his car every time Bottas is given a run. Pastor Maldonado will not have to give up his car as much as once.

    I think this is a fairly telling move from Williams – they want to give Bottas a seat, but were forced to take Senna for the money.

    1. If anyone is forced on Williams it is Pastor, so it is probably the same reason senna has to sit, appease Pastors sponsors

      1. @axe154 – I disagree. I think Maldonado has an undeserved reputation, mostly because fans resent him for his meltdown at Spa. He frequestly out-qualified and out-raced Barrichello last year, and when he didn’t, he was still remarkably close. He is, after all, a GP2 champion, and beat the highly-rated Sergio Perez to the title. He put in an excellent drive in Australia, and while one little mistake cost him dearly, one little mistake cost Perez a lot in Malaysia – but nobody holds that against him.

        Senna, on the other hand, has a documented history of under-performing, of being out-qualified by his team-mates in poor cars, and of making frequent mistakes in the races. He might have scored six points in Malaysia, but he was involved in an early contact that knocked him down the order. It was only because of the red flag and tyre strategy that he was able to put himself in a position to score points.

        Mark my words – we’re going to see more mistakes from Senna this year. I wouldn’t be surprised if he is the first driver released from his seat, and good riddance to him. He’s been given far too many second chances, and I think the only reason why people endure his many mistakes is because he is a Senna. If anyone else was in his position, they’d be howling for the team to drop him.

        1. hahaha… wouldn’t be easier for you to just say… I hate B.SENNA because he got a undeserved seat at Williams and Petrov is racing at back with Caterham?

          1. It would probably be easier to say that, but it’s not true. My dislike of Senna in the Williams has nothing to do with Petrov in the Caterham, and everything to do with the way I think Senna is over-rated and under-performing and trading (if not consciously so) on his family name. If his name was Bruno Smith, and he was the nephew of a real estate agent from Slough, most people would have called for his scalp long ago.

    2. We are talking about the guy who had no racing experience till he was 21 and within 4 years was a top open wheel prospect with a ton of wins and a GP2 runner up? The same guy who made petrov look stupid last year despite almost no track time? What are you talking about getting beat by team mates at (s)H(i)RT. who cares that season was all about track time. He should have been the Renault driver all last year and he should have been retained over the already failed out Grojesson. What about his joke of a season start, why doesn’t he hit someone else… Senna will own Pastor this year, he could sit out every practice and still out pace him probably

  26. No doubt with Pastors money not giving his car up on a Friday is part of the deal. Otherwise Williams would be giving the driver with the best results (Bruno) more time in the car.

    1. On paper, Senna has the best results. In reality, both his races were riddled with mistakes.

      1. So were the people – who voted him into 3rd place in the top drivers of the Malaysian GP article – looking at a piece of paper for two hours?

        1. @the-last-pope – Probably. Senna made a mistake on the opening lap (again). By the end of the first lap, he was miles behind Pedro de la Rosa. Senna didn’t reclaim his position through a brilliant drive. He did what Sergio Perez did and played the strategy card so that he was in a better position when the red flag was shown. But unlike Perez, he made a massive mistake in the opening laps that cost him dearly.

          How many times do you think Frank Williams will tolerate his driver having to pit for a new front wing on the opening lap because he bent it at the first corner? He might have earned some goodwill in Malaysia, but I think the decision to cut down on his practice hours is pretty telling.

          1. Actually Bruno didn’t make a mistake on the first lap.

            He was hit from behind and taken off the road by none other than his teammate! Watch the replays again…

  27. that is why i’m rootin’ for Bruno.. SENNA, ALL THE WAY!
    I laughed at the sight of Maldonado’s DNFs

  28. Good weekend to give up track time, a Williams hasn’t finished higher than 12th at China since Webber got 8th in 2006.

  29. The entire F1 is unfair.Lest´s eait and see if Maldonado can deliver best results than Senna. Well, I think it´s impossible to happen. Maldonado isn’t buying a seat. He´s buying miles. He needs a lot of them to learn how to maintain his almost good results.

  30. Storm in a teacup .

    Senna knows what he’s signed !

    Sad to see Williams being bashed for every breath they take . They are preparing Bottas so that they don’t have to settle for mediocre pay drivers in the future . Wouldn’t have happened if it was Driver X and not Senna .

    Disappointed Keith .

    1. @rabbit Not once did I criticise Williams for choosing to give Bottas some seat time. Read the article again if you don’t believe me.

      My only criticism is that they’re doing it entirely at Senna’s expense, when the fair thing to do would be to do what every other team has done and split the time between their two racing drivers.

      As for “Williams being bashed for every breath they take”, I’m struggling to remember the last time I criticised them for anything, so I’ve no idea what you’re referring to there.

  31. This is probably a side effect of Parr’s contract negotiation skills – there was admiration for him post-Williams resignation whereby he’d managed to ‘con’ £30 mill out of the Venezuelans, but obviously there were many clauses that stated he had to be highly visible as a result.

    It wasn’t a concern when Barrichello was in the other car and they just wanted track time to improve the damn thing, but circumstances have changed yet Williams can’t afford to change/void the contract.

    Not for the long game, eh?

  32. Since when has there been fairness in F1.
    Secondly, we are just 3 races into a 20 race season and we don’t know the team’s plan, so it is way too early to be crying wolf.
    Most important of all, Maldonado, like him or not, is the faster and more experienced driver. The quality of his feedback may be more crucial to Williams getting a good setup for the race weekend than either Bottas or Senna.

  33. I’d no idea the situation was thus, and it’s really ridicuolous and extremely unfair to Senna.

  34. Shouldn’t Senna be getting more track time after all his performance in malaysia was astounding and he also ahead of maldonado in the standings

  35. This site is rapidly losing its credibility by badly researched superficial articles resorting to sensationàlism at the best

  36. Since now Bruno proved that he deserves his place at Williams.
    Btw, practice and qualifying bring no points. Race matters !

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