Another Senna to race for Williams

Bruno Senna

LONDON,  (Reuters) – Brazilian Bruno Senna will  race for Williams this season, following in the footsteps of his  late uncle and triple world champion Ayrton who died in one of  the Formula One team’s cars at the 1994 San Marino Grand Prix.

Bruno Senna

The former champions, who have carried Senna’s name on all  their cars ever since that fateful May afternoon at Imola, said  in a statement yesterday that the 28-year-old would partner  Venezuelan Pastor Maldonado.

Senna, who made his F1 debut with the struggling HRT team in  2010 and competed in the last eight races for Renault last year  as a stand-in, will start testing with Williams at Spain’s Jerez  circuit on Feb. 9.

He replaces 39-year-old compatriot Rubens Barrichello, a  family friend who made his race debut in 1993 with Ayrton as his  mentor, whose Formula One career now appears to be reluctantly  at an end after 19 seasons, 11 race wins and more starts than  any other driver.

“It will be very interesting to drive for a team that my  uncle has driven for, particularly as quite a few of the people  here actually worked with Ayrton,” Senna, whose mother Viviane  was Ayrton’s older sister, said in a statement.

“Hopefully we can bring back some memories and create some   great new ones too.

“I also want to get some good results in return for the  support my country has given me to help get me to this position  today. I am very proud to be Brazilian and more motivated than  ever to demonstrate what I can do.”

No financial details were given, but Senna is expected to  bring a significant Brazilian sponsor with him to a team  currently searching for a new title backer after the departure  of telecommunications giant AT&T.