Heidfeld's a gonner... Here comes Senna

[beelsebob]

So, Renault just announced that they're dropping Heidfeld for Senna – I guess this is off the back of the news that Kubica won't be back for 2012, they feel they need a bigger risk than Heidfeld if they're going to be competitive – I for one wish Senna every success.

Source: http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/formula ... 624084.stm

[N12ck]

This is going to be a publicity thing more than anything I think, with lotus being the sponsor and all, they will go on about how the Lotus + Renault + Senna partnership gets renewed, but obviously we know this isn't the same team or person, but I think mostly for publicity reasons they are doing this.

[ESPImperium]

Id recon that Heidfeld will see himself driving another car next year. My guess id BMWs DTM car.

As for Senna, a good choice, lets see him in a strong car im compartison to the Hispania F110, against a good team mate and up the sharp(er) end of the grid.

I think that Renault should have gone with Senna in the beginning, however they needed a seasoned and steady pair of hands.

Id also expect to see some Embratel sponsoring of the team before long. But i think this could be the first of two replacements before the end of 2011 for Renault, id suspect that Grosjean will have at least 2 GP before the end of the season as well in the R31-06 (probable new chassis for Belgum and beyond after Heidfelds fire in the R31-04) that Senna will take over in Belgum. Id recon Grosjean will do Suzuka and Interlagos at the least.

I give Senna every hope for the rest of the season, and i hope he can bring the R31 to its full potential in relation to what Petrov can do with the car.

[Gatecrasher]

I wonder how much cash he is bringing with him. I have no doubts that he is a good driver, but his previous race record clearly does not rank him as the best out there for the seat. No previous championship wins, his 2nd in GP2 was based on consistency not winning.

[marcush.]

If that´s the case I expect Renault to drop like a stone they will not have a chance to keep fith in constructors.
Fast back to Kubicas promotion to the BMW works race team midseason.He was a regulaar friday tester back then and had lots of testing mileage under his belt..Still it took him 3 races to score his first and single points finish ,admittedly a second place when Heidfeld was scoring ten points in the same period also posting one second place...
Senna is nowhere near Petrov ..Renault has written of the season already not believing in the potential of the package that´s coming methinks.

[N12ck]

Maybe Team Lotus's Target for being close to renault may come sooner than we thought, I think by changing drivers it will not help them in the constructors, bringing in a driver who is not used to the car/ package, and with force india on the charge they may just end up with 6th in constructors.

[marcush.]

I miss any hint of it in german news...maybe it´s a Jordan latesummer duck..?

Renault are weird and this is one more sign to me that Kubica will not return to them.

[nacho]

Even if Heidfeld has been dissappointing, do they really believe Senna will bring in more points than Heidfeld? Not a chance.

Mean while they have Grosjean in the team that smoked Petrov as his GP2 team mate and is going to win the GP2 championship this season.

If this new is true, I think the current Renault team has lost the ball. Why don't they get that rapper that Bahar signed as a marketing consultant to drive?

[N12ck]

...which is why I think this is a marketing move by lotus cars, not a tactical move by LRGP

[marcush.]

Renault has been disappointing that is.
Hopefully Heidfeld cannot be removed that easily from his seat and at least sample the worth of the upgrade package before going back to his family .
Strange going ons with Renault ..Raikkonen ,how they treated Petrov at the start of last year ,slashing him publicly .....and now with Heidfeld...who would want to go there???

a yellow helmet is only a valuable sight when Senna is stuffing the lotus Renault on pole...well I´d think the possibility of a snowstorm is a bit higher than that happening.

[beelsebob]

Even if Heidfeld has been dissappointing, do they really believe Senna will bring in more points than Heidfeld? Not a chance.

I think that's rather the point – there is a chance, even if it's slim. Heidfeld is a known quantity – he won't score them great points. Senna on the other hand is a bit like Petrov... Probably a bit random, probably will have a few shitty races, but might also put in some good results, and might learn something before next year.

Mean while they have Grosjean in the team that smoked Petrov as his GP2 team mate and is going to win the GP2 championship this season.

Yep, as was mentioned above, I too wouldn't be surprised if Grosjean got a drive before the season was out.

If this new is true, I think the current Renault team has lost the ball. Why don't they get that rapper that Bahar signed as a marketing consultant to drive?

I don't think there's any ball losing going on... They know that they need to take a chance to find a driver who can replace a talent like Kubica, and Senna is indeed a chance. A bit long odds, but a chance all the same.

[wesley123]

I really dont understand the fuss around it, imo it was quite clear Heidfeld got sacked soon.
When he was attracted as replacement for Kubica he was expected a few things;
-Show team leadership
-Help development and input in the car
-Be consistent
He was lacking on all of the three points, then it is easy he will get sacked. That he is replaced with Senna is obvious too, LRGP had been lobbying Senna and Grosjean for a seat in f1 for msot of the season, Senna even did winter tests. It is a logical replacement, they cannot now quickyl call in another driver similar to Heidfeld as an replacement, that is because who is even available to take this job? And apart from that, the guys available are old(er) and slow(er) and the likelyhood of failure is big. Now they put a young guy in the car where after last year no one expects anything from, this guy can now prove himself and show that he is a worthy F1 driver, which I think he is.

[ringo]

This is going to be a publicity thing more than anything I think, with lotus being the sponsor and all, they will go on about how the Lotus + Renault + Senna partnership gets renewed, but obviously we know this isn't the same team or person, but I think mostly for publicity reasons they are doing this.

I have more expectations of Senna, just like i had for Maldonado and Petrov when they got their seats. Senna will do well enough.
It's not just publicity. If anything the simulator is giving them reasons to use Senna, and if not they have Grosjean.

[freedom_honda]

Even without the money that Senna is bringing in, I think replacing Heidfeld with Senna is a logical choice. The Renault team boss has said on numerous occasion that Heidfeld has not been the leader that the team thought he would be. Despite Petrov's shorter career, Renault said they relied on Petrov more than Heidfeld on the development of the car.

Besides the technical input, Heidfeld hasn't been much quicker than Petrov anyway. And it was obvious that Renault doesn't want to keep Heidfeld for next year.

Plus, Renault's car can barely score points in the last few races (they scored only 6 points in the last 4 races). They have nothing to lose by putting Senna in. As long as Senna isn't massively off pace, Renault would be happy. I think what they are doing is they know it takes sometime for a rookie to get up to speed, and since they car is currently going backwards, they might as well use the opportunity to train the young drivers and see if Senna is any good. If Senna is good, they will keep him for next year. If Senna turns out to be rubbish, they can fire Senna and bring Romain in for winter testing.

I am only surprised by the fact that it took them this long to bring Senna in.

[raymondu999]

I still think they missed a trick by not bringing Hulkenberg into that seat instead