Bruno Senna has been axed from the HRT team for this weekend’s British grand prix at Silverstone.
Japanese driver Sakon Yamamoto, who competed in 14 grand prix for Super Aguri and Spyker in 2006 and 2007, has replaced him for the race, but Senna’s manager Chris Goodwin has dismissed claims that he had been sacked as "absolutely ridiculous".
Yamamoto will race alongside Karun Chandhok for HRT, a team which has struggled for pace in its debut season in Formula One.
HRT is expected to clarify Senna’s future at HRT in a statement later today.
The Brazilian’s best finish so far this season was 16th in Malaysia and China.
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Re: Senna axed by HRT
Ahh!, but you see if your second name is Hill or Senna ,Villinueve your expected to be talented, ie, be able to make a skip go faster than a car, you know what i mean?
Re: Senna axed by HRT
I dont think its just about sposorship money, a Brazilian driver with the surname 'Senna' will find it difficult to attract sponsors!!! He was all over the media prior to F1, boasting of his relationship and milking it.
I agree there was a lot of expectation on him and he hasnt delivered, but there are pros and cons of being related to a great, I dont think Bruno would have even made it to F1 without the Senna name. His far less illustrious team mate has finished better than him in Malaysia, Spain, Monaco, Turkey, Canada and Valencia. The writing was always on the wall.
Re: Senna axed by HRT
Not sure if you've been watching any of this years races, but Senna has outqualified and out-finished his team mate in the majority of races so far. To say he's a bad driver is baffling, given the fact he did so well in lower series, and is now driving what is clearly the slowest car on the grid by a large margin. You could put Hamilton/Alonso/Vettel in that car and they'd barely do any better.
I would imagine this is down to sponsorship money more than anything else.