Paul Jeffrey
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For the return of our 'Where are they now?' series of articles, we look at the man with the most famous surname in the world of motorsport - Bruno Senna.
Probably benefiting for someone from one of the most revered families in his native Brazil, Bruno Senna would have an incredible amount of pressure on his shoulders to live up to the reputation of his legendary uncle Ayrton throughout his career, hampered by his late start in the sport and constant need to keep up with his more experienced rivals.
Having spend his junior career honing his skills driving karts alongside his famous uncle, Bruno Senna would be highly regarded for the level of raw natural talent at his disposal from such an early age. Famously when speaking with the media late in 1993, Ayrton Senna would comment that his young nephew Bruno had potentially more talent than he did, stating "If you think I'm good, wait until you see my nephew", that was when Bruno was first trying his hand in junior karting back in his native Brazil, a young career cut short following the fatal accident that befell Ayrton in 1994 and which led to Bruno's family bringing to a halt his motorsport ambitions for the next 10 years.
After tirelessly campaigning his family to resume his racing ambitions, Senna would finally make his return in time for the 2004 Formula BMW UK series, where at 20 years of age and after a decade away from any kind of professional racing activity the yellow, blue and green helmet would return to racetracks of the world.
Senna would have a mammoth task ahead of him as he looked to simultaneously shoulder the responsibility of the Senna name whilst attempting to cram years of knowledge into just a few short seasons, however it would become almost immediately apparent that the Brazilian had lost little of his South American flair and famous outright speed during his time away from racing, picking up a handful of points finishes on his return to racing and leaving many insiders in no doubt that Senna possesses the right level of determination and pace to succeed and carry himself all the way to Formula One.
Ever conscious of the need to accelerate a career that started considerably later than that of his rivals (Senna would be 21 years of age when he made his Formula Three debut, Max Verstappen started his first Formula One race at just 17 years old...), Senna would decide to skip some of the more traditional series used by junior drivers on their way up to Formula One and found himself in a solid drive for the 2005 British Formula Three season, signed up by the new Räikkönen Robertson Racing Dallara Mugen Honda F3. His first taste of competitive professional racing would start slowly for Senna, with strong performances punctuated by a few too many off track incidents and mistakes, however as the season progressed Senna would eventually find his feet in the sport and began to put in much more composed performances behind the wheel, ending with a three podium finishes in the final seven rounds of the season, eventually ending the year a very solid tenth overall.
2006 would be a much more impressive year for the driver as he again returned to British Formula Three with Räikkönen Robertson Racing, picking up the pace right from the very first lap to secure himself five race victories and third overall in the series standings. It would be during 2006 that Senna first began to forge himself a reputation as something of a wet weather master (not unlike his uncle Ayrton) as the driver looked to make the most of a car that was acknowledged as one of the more established vehicles on the grid that season.
Senna would also branch out to alternative Formula Three categories as he looked to build up his woefully inadequate experience level in 2006, entering the Australian Formula One supporting F3 event in fine style, winning three of the weekends four races and taking the Albert Park F3 lap record in front of the Formula One team's and fans. Further one off drives in the Masters of Formula Three and German and European Porsche Cup events would also follow, with little in the way of success.
For 2007 Senna would make a switch to the Formula One supporting GP2 series (now F2) with the established Arden International team, incredibly entering a highly competitive championship with just two full seasons of Formula Three experience under his belt.
Due to the restrictive nature of the regulations in GP2 Senna would find himself with a massive task ahead of him to be competitive, however taking such a huge risk in moving to GP2 so early would go a long way towards showing the level of commitment and determination Senna would have to reach Formula One before age became a restrictive issue, a level of determination that Senna would continue to show throughout his career in the sport.
2007 would be one of the most competitive seasons in the brief history of the rebranded GP2 series and Senna would prove himself highly worthy of his seat in the Arden team, taking a first career GP2 victory under heavy rain conditions at Barcelona and adding to a further two podium positions as he ended the season in a very respectable eighth place overall, generally out performing his team mates and finishing above future Formula One drivers such as Pastor Maldonado, Vitaly Petrov and Karun Chandhok amongst others.
Senna would opt to remain in GP2 for 2008 as he eyed a potential Formula One drive for the following year, signing up with reigning champions iSport International and very firmly announcing his intentions to fight for the overall series honours.
The year would start in reasonable fashion for Senna with solid podiums and points results the order of the day, however things would really step up a gear from Silverstone onwards as a string of podiums and victories would lift the Brazilian into championship contention, just missing our on overall honours by 12 points thanks to a series of unlucky retirements over the final couple of rounds of the year. Undeterred, with three victories and six podiums over the course of the main season, and a further two podiums and fifth overall in GP2 Asia, Senna would be well on his way to securing a Formula One contract with Honda for the 2009 Formula One season.
Having tested and impressed for the Japanese team over the winter of 2008, Senna looked highly likely to be awarded a contract to race alongside Jenson Button for 2009, with many insiders including Team Principle Ross Brawn impressed with the technical knowhow and outright pace of the youngster, despite his limited open wheel experience.
Due to the economic downturn Honda would make a surprise decision to exit Formula One with immediate effect before the 2009 season, and with the decision Senna would find himself left without an opportunity to drive for the newly rebranded Brawn GP team as they opted for the experience of Brazilian veteran Rubens Barrichello over the untested Senna alongside Jenson Button.
Due to the late call from Honda / Brawn and Senna's conviction that a Formula One drive was nailed on for the coming 12 months, 2009 would be something of a intermediate year as he tread water before trying his hand at Formula One again in 2010. Unwilling to do another year of GP2 and risk a reputation in its ascendancy, Senna would spend a little time sampling a variety of GT style machinery, contesting three of the five Le Mans series races that year in an Oreca run prototype and securing two third place finishes for the team. Senna would also get the opportunity to race for the Team Oreca Matmut – AIM squad in a hastily put together deal for Le Mans, qualifying towards the rear of the LMP1 field and eventually heading into retirement in what was a largely unremarkable race.
With the disappointment of a Honda drive that failed to materialise for 2009, Senna would once again find himself back in Formula One action for the new year, earning a seat at the new for 2010 Hispania Racing Team for the season ahead. Unfortunately the new team would be woefully underprepared for the challenge of racing in Formula One and would rarely find themselves likely to rise above the very back of the Grand Prix grid. For his part Senna would regularly out class his 2010 team mate Chandhok and establish himself as a popular member of the Formula One paddock, occasionally showing flashes of flair behind the wheel despite the terribly uncompetitive HRT car.
Despite proving to be the more competitive of the two HRT drivers, Senna would find himself sat on the sidelines at Silverstone in place of pay driver Sakon Yamamoto, joining back up with the team for the next round at Germany as team mate Chandhok took his turn to stand down for the Japanese as the team showed their first signs of struggling for the required finances to compete competitively in Formula One racing.
It would come as no surprise when Senna confirmed he would not be racing with HRT in 2011, taking the opportunity to join up with the Renault team as official test and reserve driver for 2011, alongside the experienced German driver Nick Heidfeld.
Sadly during the off season Formula One and Renault would lose one of the most exciting talents on the grid following Renault contracted driver Robert Kubica seriously injuring himself in a rally accident in Italy, leaving both Senna and Heidfeld to fight it out for the right to replace the Polish star for the coming season. Heidfeld would eventually win the battle of the drivers and line up alongside Petrov in Melbourne, however as the relationship between team and driver soured heading into the summer Senna would be parachuted into the drivers seat at the Belgian Grand Prix, a seat he would occupy for the remainder of the season, of which a ninth place finish in Monza would be the highlight for a team now struggling for pace.
Senna's comparative performances alongside teammate Petrov would be enough to convince Williams to take a chance on the youngster for 2012, partnering the nephew of the late Ayrton Senna with well healed but quick Pastor Maldonado in what was something of a transition year for the once dominant former World Champions.
Neither Williams nor Senna were particularly convincing in 2012, the Grove squad struggling with an uncompetitive car and lacklustre Renault engine, and Senna seemingly showing signs of his comparative lack of experience in top level open wheel racing as he made several clumsy mistakes that did much to hide his obvious outright pace.
Despite the difficult season Senna would experience some high points with Williams, scoring his first and only fastest lap, finishing in points paying positons on several occasions and scoring a career best result of sixth position at that years Malaysian Grand Prix.
With Maldonado proving to be a difficult if not inconsistent team mate in the second car, going on to win the Spanish Grand Prix, Senna's 31 points and 16th place finish in the final standings would not be enough to secure the now 28-year-old driver a second season for the squad. Williams confirmed rising Finnish talent Vatteri Bottas would be partnering Maldonado for 2013, leaving Senna without a Grand Prix drive for the following year.
Formula One Career Statistics
Starts: 33
Wins: 0
Poles: 0
Podiums: 0
Fastest Laps: 1
Teams: HRT, Renault, Williams
With no Formula One drive on offer for 2013, Bruno Senna would look to the world of endurance racing for the coming year, securing a two year contract to drive for the famous British Aston Martin marque in the rapidly expanding World Endurance Championship, a drive that would take the Brazilian back to Le Mans and reignite a love affair with the famous French round the clock classic that lasts to this day.
The first season of the Senna / Aston Martin partnership would prove fruitful for the former Grand Prix driver, with two victories and a number of strong showings cementing a reputation as a very assured pair of hands behind the wheel of a closed top endurance racing GT. Sadly WEC championship success and a Le Mans victory would remain out of reach for Senna in 2013, ending the season in eighth overall and retiring from Le Mans when running third in class.
2014 would see a return to Aston Martin and Le Mans once again, however the partnership would be less successful second time around as he completed only two events for the outfit, dovetailing his Aston Martin adventure with a new role as Formula E driver for the Mahindra team in the newly formed all electric racing series.
Senna would contest the FIA Formula E series for the first two seasons of the championships history, often finding himself the subject of fan support as the recipient of the innovative 'Fan Boost' award, however despite the obvious backing of the motorsport public Senna would never achieve consistent results for the Indian team, finishing 10th and 11th in his two seasons of racing despite occasionally showing strong form and performing some impressive overtakes on the tight and difficult tracks visited by the Formula E category.
Alongside his open wheel commitments, Senna would continue dip into other forms of traditional motorsport with one off drives in Blancpain GT and his home national series Stock Car Brazil, however the end of 2016 would see the final time Senna competed in a full season of open wheel racing, turning his attention once again to endurance driving with the prototype LMP2 category his destination, partnering up with first RGR Sport and later the impressive Valliante Rebellion squad for 2016 and 2017 respectively.
Senna's second stint in the World Endurance Championship would be altogether more successful than his Aston Martin foray, leading the Brazilian to six victories over the course of his two seasons in the championship, finishing second overall in his debut year and going one better in 2017 as he and his Rebellion team mates secured championship honours in LMP 2 as well as almost winning the Le Mans 24 Hours in a second tier machine, eventually dropping to 16th overall following a post race disqualification than demoted the team from third step of the podium and second in class, a race, and result, likely to be remembered in the endurance racing world for many years to come.
For 2018 Senna will contest the Rolex 24 Hours of Daytona alongside Fernando Alonso at United Autosports, again in LMP2 machinery, alongside continuing with Rebellion in the World Endurance Championship but moving up the premier LMP1 category with the team.
Outside of the cockpit Senna also maintains a role with Channel 4 as a professional pundit of British broadcasters Formula One coverage.
Career Highlights
2006 British Formula Three - 3rd
2006 Australian Formula Three Grand Prix - 1st
2007 GP2 - 8th
2008 GP2 - 2nd
2008 GP2 Asia - 5th
2014 LM24 - 6th (GTE Pro)
2016 WEC LMP2 - 2nd
We hope you are enjoying our 'Where Are They Now' series of articles. In case you missed it, check out the previous features on the links below:
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How do you rate Bruno Senna's professional career? Should the Brazilian have had a better crack at Formula One success? Let us know in the comments section below!
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