• Williams news

Senna saw Bottas announcement coming

ESPN Staff
November 28, 2012 « Maldonado and Bottas confirmed for Williams | Ferrari considering Vettel protest »
Bruno Senna will be replaced by Valtteri Bottas at Williams next year © Sutton Images
Enlarge

Bruno Senna said he was not surprised to find out he will be replaced by Valtteri Bottas at Williams next year, but insists he has no hard feelings towards the team and will announce his plans for 2013 soon.

On Wednesday Williams confirmed Bottas will join Pastor Maldonado at the team next year, leaving Senna to look elsewhere for a drive. But in a statement on his website, Senna said he had been anticipating the news since the start of the year.

"Since the beginning of my program with Williams I accepted that I had to share the car with Valtteri Bottas in 15 Fridays as a part of his preparation for a likely debut in 2013", he said.

Looking back on his season, Senna said he was proud he scored points at 10 of this year's 20 races.

"It has been extremely satisfying to be the team's most regular point scorer and for me to demonstrate my pace in all 20 races. I have learned a lot and improved considerably through the season. I have had a relatively short career so far and feel as though I have come a long way in just a few years.

"I had some notable achievements this year, such as the fastest lap in the Belgian GP, my favourite track, scoring points on a regular basis and making up many, many places through the races. Regularly racing in the top ten has certainly been a step forward in my still relatively short career and has allowed me to further sharpen up my race craft. Working with a competitive and supportive engineering team like Williams has left me well prepared for the next step in my career."

And he also thanked team boss Sir Frank Williams for giving him the opportunity to race a full season.

"I would like to thank the whole team and particularly Frank for giving me the chance of completing my first full season in F1. It has been extremely rewarding to develop the Williams FW34 into a consistently competitive race car and cracking the challenge of the Pirelli tyres has been just one of the satisfying points."

© ESPN Sports Media Ltd.
ESPN Staff Close