F1: Bruno Senna Confirmed At Williams For 2012

Formula 1

F1: Bruno Senna Confirmed At Williams For 2012

Bruno Senna replaces Rubens Barrichello at Williams...

Adam Cooper | http://www.speedtv.com | Posted January 17, 2012 Balen (BEL)

Bruno Senna is excited to be joining the Williams team. (Photo: Williams)

Williams has confirmed that Bruno Senna will partner with his former GP2 rival Pastor Maldonado in 2012.

Senna will thus be seen at the wheel of a Williams-Renault 18 years after his uncle, Ayrton Senna, drove for the team. He is the latest in a series of ‘second generation’ drivers employed by Williams, following in the footsteps of Damon Hill, Jacques Villeneuve, Nico Rosberg and Kazuki Nakajima.

Adrian Sutil recently dropped out of contention for the drive, and Senna ultimately beat his countryman Rubens Barrichello to the seat. Ironically, in 2009 Barrichello stayed on after the withdrawal of Honda to drive for Brawn at the expense of Senna, who had been favored by the Japanese manufacturer.

Barrichello now finds himself without a drive for what would have been his 20th season at the top level.

Team founder/owner Frank Williams said: “Bruno only started racing when he was 20 years old but quickly proved his talent in F3 and GP2. In a tightly fought 2008 GP2 season, Bruno finished second in the championship with notable victories in Monaco and Silverstone, the latter in the wet. The circumstances of Bruno’s two seasons in Formula One have not given him an ideal opportunity to deliver consistently so it was essential that we spent as much time with him as possible to understand and evaluate him as a driver.

“We have done this both on track and in our simulator and he has proven quick, technically insightful and above all capable of learning and applying his learning quickly and consistently. Now we are looking forward to seeing that talent in our race car.”

Senna commented: “I feel very privileged that Williams has selected me as one of their race drivers. The team has a great heritage and I hope I can help write a good chapter in their history. The evaluation process has been intense and methodical but the time I have spent in the factory has demonstrated that the team has great people and all the resources needed to achieve better things this season.

“It will be very interesting to drive for a team that my uncle has driven for, particularly as quite a few of the people here actually worked with Ayrton. Hopefully we can bring back some memories and create some great new ones, too. I also want to get some good results in return for the support my country has given me to help get me to this position today. I am very proud to be Brazilian and more motivated than ever to demonstrate what I can do. Ever since I first sat in a go-kart I never wanted to do anything else.”

Adam Cooper notched up his 26th season as a racing journalist in 2010. He has written about F1 for SPEED.com since 2005. Follow him on Twitter.