Bruno Senna: Nephew of Ayrton, and Driver in His Own Right

• 2010 Hispania
• 2011 Lotus Renault GP

Bruno started karting as a boy under the encouragement of his grandfather, the father to his uncle, Ayrton Senna. When Ayrton went karting with him, he pronounced to the world that Bruno was faster than he was in a kart at the same age. Bruno might have risen quickly and ferociously up the karting and car racing categories had not fate intervened in 1994. His uncle Ayrton died in a racing crash at the 1994 San Marino Grand Prix at Imola, Italy. Not surprisingly, Bruno's family - his mother is Viviane, Ayrton's sister - decided that Bruno would never race karts or cars again and his career abruptly stopped at age 10.

After being banished by his family from racing as a child, Bruno decided once he was an adult, at age 20, that he had to return to racing as a career. In 2004 he raced in Formula BMW in England and Formula Renault in Asia, before joining Räikkönen Robertson Racing in British F3 for 2005. He was 10th in the series and then the following year he won five races and finished third in the series.

In 2007 and 2008 he drove in the GP2 series, where he finished second in the series in his second year, with two victories and four podiums. He tested a Honda Formula 1 car at the end of the 2008 series, but Honda pulled out of the series over the winter and Bruno spent the next season in the Le Mans sports car series.

Bruno finally made it to F1 at the Hispania team in 2010. But the team was one of the three new teams that year, and failed to score any points. Bruno began 2011 as a reserve driver at the Lotus Renault team. But then Robert Kubica, the regular driver, injured himself in a rally accident before the season, and was replaced by Nick Heidfeld. In the summer, the team decided to drop Heidfeld and give Bruno his chance. He scored a fabulous seventh place on the grid in his first qualifying session, at Spa. But the rest of the year was less brilliant, although he managed to score points at the Italian Grand Prix, where he finished ninth.

Williams signed him up as a replacement for Rubens Barrichello to race the 2012 season. It was an historic moment, as it was also at the Williams team that his uncle Ayrton had died in the accident in 1994 at Imola.

"I was a motorsport fan from a young age and of course there has been a great influence from my uncle, but ever since I first put my feet into a go-kart I never wanted to do anything else," he said after Williams signed him. "I’m very privileged to be able to do what I love, as to race in Formula 1 has always been my dream."

Driving Style:

Bruno style is at once aggressive and smooth.

Character:

Bruno is one of the rare Formula 1 drivers who seems to be always smiling and open to people and his team. He does not ruffle easily. Even during the low periods when he appeared to be without a team and without a future, he maintained an even, optimistic outlook. This is the sign of a champion.

"It will be very interesting to drive for a team that my uncle drove for," Bruno said. "Quite a few of the people still here actually worked with Ayrton and I’m happy that they are now giving me the chance to prove myself here. Hopefully we can bring back some good memories and create some great new ones too."