Race Incident » Bruno Senna

Christian Klien replaces Yamamoto

admin — Fri, 24 Sep 2010 09:36:02 +0000

Christian Klien will replace Sakon Yamamoto for the Singapore Grand Prix, according to a Hispania Racing F1 Team press release.

The reason, according to Colin Kolles, is that Yamamoto doesn’t feel well because of food poisoning.

It will be good to see Christian Klien back in Formula 1 which he joined in 2004 for Jaguar coming directly from Formula 3. Klien’s last racing in Formula 1 was in 2006 for Red Bull Racing and he has since then been a test driver for Honda Racing F1 Team and BMW Sauber F1 Team as well as driving the Peugeot LMP1 prototype successfully at the Le Mans 24 Hour race in 2009.

It will also be interesting to see Bruno Senna going head to head with a driver of proper F1 talent for a change.

Bruno Senna tests for Mercedes

admin — Thu, 19 Mar 2009 18:05:24 +0000

With a 2009 Formula 1 seat out of reach the question about where Ayrton Senna’s nephew Bruno Senna would end up in 2009 has been on the minds of many during the pre-season. Staying in GP2 would be a dangerous move as he would definitely have to win it this year to not damage his reputation. The DTM rumours started floating around earlier this year and now there’s for sure some fuel on that flame as Bruno Senna has been testing for Mercedes at Hockenheim.

No deal has yet been made, but I doubt Senna and Mercedes are doing a two day test just for fun.

And a Mercedes connection surely can’t hurt Bruno’s potential Formula 1 future. Hamilton and Senna in McLaren 2010?

Berger confirms Buemi for 2009 Scuderia Toro Rosso seat

admin — Mon, 05 Jan 2009 10:40:52 +0000

Scuderia Toro Rosso has yet to announce its lineup for 2009. That didn’t stop former co-owner and team boss Gerhard Berger for naming Buemi as one of the 2009 drivers in Swiss magazine Blick though. In the magazine he said:

“I personally made the right decision I think at the right time to sell my shares. And for 2009 the team has a good and fast driver in Buemi indeed.”

Sebastien Buemi has been running very quick in the winter tests so far and has been all but confirmed for the seat. The question remains as to who he will have as team mate. Race Incident thinks Sebastien Bourdais is worth a second season but if it boils down to who can bring the most money they will probably look elsewhere. Bruno Senna is probably a marketer’s dream.

Pantano’s not too happy about his F1 chances

admin — Thu, 04 Dec 2008 10:10:34 +0000

This year’s GP2 champion, 29 year old Giorgio Pantano is upset by the lack of attention he’s getting from the Formula 1 teams.

“I challenge anyone to produce a resume as mine”, he told Autosprint.

So what does Pantano have in his resume, you might ask? How about this:

1993 – Winner of the European Kart Cup, Italian Championship and the Rainbow Trophy (unofficial World Championship for Cadets) in karting

1994 – Italian champion and winners of the Five Continents Cup in karting

1995 – European Formula A champion in karting

1996 – European Formula A champion and second in the World Cup in karting

1997 – Third in Formula Super A World Championship

1998 – Second in the Formula Super A World Cup

1999 – Third in the Formula Super A World Cup

2000 – German Formula 3 Champion

2002 – Second in the Formula 3000 championship

2003 – Third in the Formula 3000 championship

2004 – 14 races for Jordan in Formula 1

2007 – GP2 champion

Pantano argues that Sebastien Buemi and Bruno Senna is now competing for Formula 1 seats without having accomplished nothing much. While he has a point, they are also much younger than Pantano and might have a very bright future ahead of him. Getting a second chance in Formula 1 at 30 might be hard when the F1 teams are looking at 20 year olds.

If Pantano doesn’t make it to Formula 1 in 2009 he will be the first GP2 champion who won’t be on the grid the year after they won the championship. The previous champions are so far Nico Rosberg, Lewis Hamilton and Timo Glock — all in F1.

I think it’s time for Pantano to look west. In 2005 he did two road courses races in the IRL for Chip Ganassi. In his second race he qualified second and finished in fourth. The Ganassi team should be aware of his potential.