Official Formula 1 thread

[reni]

Wasn't Bruno forced by his family to quit racing for a good 5-10 years after Ayrton's death? I remember reading somewhere about Ayrton talking about how good Bruno was back in the day, perhaps that talent just never got the chance to develop fully. Maybe if Ayrton had survived the Senna family would have been dominant in motorsport for several decades.

[Martinius]

Bruno got outqualified at the Singapore GP in 2010 by an out of job Christian Klien by a whopping 2 seconds in the same car. If you're top driver material, there is no way in hell that happens to you.

[strat61caster]

Novel inbound.

Originally Posted by reni

Wasn't Bruno forced by his family to quit racing for a good 5-10 years after Ayrton's death? I remember reading somewhere about Ayrton talking about how good Bruno was back in the day, perhaps that talent just never got the chance to develop fully. Maybe if Ayrton had survived the Senna family would have been dominant in motorsport for several decades.

Yes, I kind of alluded to that 'if luck were different' phrase. There were a couple flukes in Bruno's life that have prevented him from truly competing at F1's top level beginning with that.

He was in line to drive for Brawn GP in 2009, Ross chose Barrichello due to the lack of testing meaning putting a very inexperienced rookie in the car he paid out of pocket to put on the grid. In that car he would have gotten hype near Hamilton levels even if he fared worse than Barrichello did.

Wiki claims that during a 3 day test he got within 0.3 seconds of Button's best.

2010 he signed for a ride, maybe it hurt him being a backmarker for a year I don't know, but some track time was better than no track time.

2011 with half a season in the Lotus he had put up good enough numbers that everything was set for him to drive in 2012 until Raikkonen re-entered the field. Grosjean went on to have a terrible year, still finished 8th (I have great respect for him as well and think he only made about two serious errors that season but I can go off on that later) but Raikkonen placed 3rd. The what-if game in my head gives Senna a good chance at finishing top 8 in 2012 in a Lotus.

Even then he outfinished his teammate at Williams 11-9, 10-5 top ten finishes, 2-5 retirements, all with a reduced practice schedule to be rewarded by not being able to find a ride.

Maybe he's an unbearable self-righteous prick behind closed doors, I don't know. I remember when either Lotus or Williams dropped him they cited that the alternative was a 'better fit for the team', probably bullshit because sponsor money (Grosjean and Maldo), maybe not.

Originally Posted by Martinius

Bruno got outqualified at the Singapore GP in 2010 by an out of job Christian Klien by a whopping 2 seconds in the same car. If you're top driver material, there is no way in hell that happens to you.

Fair, 2010 was a garbage year for Senna in a brand new team. I wasn't paying attention but I question the assertion that they had equal equipment. On raw pace he was outclassed by Maldonado hands down in '12 (5-15 in quali) and that's really all you need to say about his pace. Hell the race Pastor qualified on pole Senna qualified 17th.

Decent article that echoes what I'm saying:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/legacy/an...uno_senna.html

Drivers like Button and Raikkonen struggled against teammates early on before going on to win a championship (their teammates did not) with the exception of Alonso all of the current top drivers have never consistently outshone their teammates, yes they usually come out on top but often times not by much. Ricciardo only beat JEV 12-8 and 11-9 on finishes, Button beat Hamilton in '11, and I've run out of steam for this post so there's my verbal diarrhea.

[ayau]

Jenson driving with Alonso for 2015!

http://www.bbc.com/sport/0/formula1/30328327

[OkieSnuffBox]

^I'm very happy to see that and think it's definitely the right move.

[Lunatic]

Originally Posted by ayau

Jenson driving with Alonso for 2015!

http://www.bbc.com/sport/0/formula1/30328327

Good to hear.

[Martinius]

Caption this:


They're pragmatic people these two...

[strat61caster]

Originally Posted by Martinius

Caption this:

Alonso: We have settled our differences in true F1 fashion.
Dennis: Yes, with lots of money over a lovely Nazi themed orgy.

As an aside, this picture is one of those that makes me realize how weird humans look...

[torqdork]

Fred: I feel your wallet is many quid lighter now, hahaha.

Ron: Fred, do you do remember the Battle of Trafalgar and that Jenson is related to Lord Nelson?

[Martinius]

[Silver Ignition]

I can't be the only one thinking that Button, Alonso, Honda and McLaren are recepie for some serious race-winning...

I'm sure Merc is still the one to beat, but Williams and McLaren are gonna come in force next year, mark my words

[Lunatic]

I'm really looking forward to Honda coming back to F-1, and teaming up with McLaren couldn't be better.

[OkieSnuffBox]

Originally Posted by Silver Ignition

I can't be the only one thinking that Button, Alonso, Honda and McLaren are recepie for some serious race-winning...

I'm sure Merc is still the one to beat, but Williams and McLaren are gonna come in force next year, mark my words

Largely dependent on how well Honda developed their engine.

[F1fletch]

Between Vettel to Ferrari and Alonso/Button/Honda I am uber stoked for next year......it could be a mighty battle for second!!!