shift wrote:
Bruno was only 2 tenth slower than Button in the 2009 Brawn test, but Brawn decided to choose Barrichello for his immense experience.
But since when has testing been a test of out-and-out driver ability? If Brawn (Though was it not a test carried out when the team was still Honda?) had thought that Bruno was the next big thing, you'd have thought they would have signed him. After all, the team didn't know if they were going to survive into 2010 - what good was an experienced driver over one that might blitz the field in '09?
shift wrote:
His smooth style doesn't fit very well with Pirelli tyres in the single lap, but it works well in race conditions (where he outpaced Maldonado many times despite losing FP1).
That's an excuse, but it doesn't completely defend Bruno. If he was a top driver, you'd have expected him to have worked around that before the end of a 20-race season. It's not as if it was a problem that was inherent within the FW34 as his team-mate had no such issues.
shift wrote:
Unfortunately for Bruno, being smooth with the wheel doesn't necessarily result in a fast lap time. It may have helped his tyre conservation, and perhaps that is why his race results were closer to Maldonado's, but Button - widely regarded as the 'smoothest' driver in recent years - didn't suffer like Bruno in qualifying.
shift wrote:
Next years tyres will be easier to put in the right temperature window, so i see a faster Senna in qualify too.
Only hope that someone will give him another opportunity.
Unfortunately it looks as if we may never know.