Bruno Senna: “Progress together”

Bruno Senna only covered 17 laps of the Bahrain Grand Prix, after his Cosworth engine gave up the ghost. Driver with a famous name in the smallest team on the grid, the nephew of the three-time World Champion F1 I don't think I made a mistake by joining this team. “ It?s a way of progressing together, of having pressure distributed on the team and the driver », justifies the Brazilian in the columns of AUTOhebdo. “ The ideal would obviously have been for us to be ready four or six weeks earlier “, he admits, however.

Senna thereby recognizes that his team was seriously lacking in preparation before the Bahrain Grand Prix. But he does not regret having made his debut in F1 in these conditions. “ Did we have a choice? We didn't even have time to worry about our driving comfort. We'll see about that later. In the meantime, can I put up with having my back and butt on a barbecue? »

Born Bruno Lalli, the pilot preferred to take the name of his mother, and therefore his uncle, so as not to create ambiguities during his career. “ The possible anonymity that I could have had by calling myself Bruno Lalli would only have lasted a few hours, He explains. People wouldn't have stopped talking to me about Ayrton and calling me Senna, no matter what. To simplify everything, I chose to take my mother's name. I recognize that it opened a few doors for me, to deny it would be ridiculous, but it also imposed many constraints on me. Creating my own personality and my own “press” can only come from my own results. Now that I am arriving in F1, being “the nephew of? » no longer counts »

Furthermore, bearing the name of a three-time World Champion is not an everyday occurrence for a driver who wants to pursue his career as he pleases. “ He died when I was ten but I learned to live with him, confesses Bruno. Not an interview with me talks about him! It's inevitable but I've gotten used to it. On the one hand, it tires me a little to have to talk about him so much, on the other I tell myself that if people ask me that, it's because he must have marked them and they have an excellent one. memory. »

Trying to distance himself from this family bond that is sometimes too heavy to bear, Bruno Senna confides that he did not recognize any particular emotions by putting himself in the seat of the car HRT. “ Why should I have thought of him? », asks the Brazilian. “ I am here for me, thanks to my work, driven by my own passion. I do nothing for him, everything for myself, and for the people who trusted me by hiring me. I don't think of him every time I strap on my harness or step onto a podium. This happened to me once, in Monaco, for a GP2 race which I won. There, I felt a particular emotion, telling myself that he would have been proud to see me at the top of the podium. Because it was a circuit that he loved, on which he gave his all and about which he often spoke to me. »

Find the entire interview with Bruno Senna in AUTOhebdo n°1744, on sale this week.