Senna at Williams: Imminent Announcement?
Autosprint has received assurances from Brazilian sources that Williams has signed Bruno Senna, backed by 14 million euros from personal sponsors, for the 2012 season.
While Rubens Barrichello recently admitted that things were taking longer than he had hoped regarding Williams’ decision, the Brazilian veteran could find out his fate in the coming days and be forced to give up extending his Formula One career, as *Autosprint* reports that Bruno Senna will race for Williams, replacing Rubens Barrichello, in the next Formula One World Championship. The report adds: The news comes from Brazil, and the Brazilian driver’s contract is expected to be made official by the British team in the coming days. Senna would bring with him a budget of 14 million euros, coming from his main sponsors: OGX, the company of Eike Batista, the richest man in Brazil, as well as Embratel and Gillette. Eighteen years after Ayrton’s death, another Senna will be driving a Williams.
This statement echoes the claims of one of the sponsors of the former HRT and Lotus driver who assured a few days ago that the young Brazilian would indeed race for Williams in 2012, something Bruno Senna promptly denied on his Facebook account: « Despite some rumors, my situation is the same as before. I haven’t been confirmed with any team and I am still in the running for a spot in F1. »
However, if the news were to be confirmed in the coming days, the nephew of the legendary triple world champion in the discipline would thus outmaneuver not only his compatriot Rubens Barrichello, who had gathered a 5 million budget, but also Adrian Sutil, who is still facing legal proceedings for the alleged assault of Eric Lux and whose reduced financial support from Medion — around 4 million euros — Autosprint claims was decisive in the non-conclusion of the contract between the German driver and the British team.
Faced with financial difficulties and the loss of its main sponsor – AT&T –, the Williams team was reportedly grappling with internal disagreements regarding the choice of driver, torn between the experience of Rubens Barrichello and the financial backing of Bruno Senna, even though the team benefits from significant sponsorship from PDVSA, a supporter of Pastor Maldonado.
