Senna loses ride?

[Ciro Pabón]

Technically his last name is not Senna, because his mom is Senna's sister right? I know Spanish speaking countries ussualy keep 2 last names, but his dad's name is his true last name. He should use that one and save himself any potential embarrassment

Well, some brazilians use the mother's maiden name (as english speakers would say) or your second last name (as a spanish speaker would say) as last name.

Apparently, it's their pick (and one that could be pretty politically correct for some people, if you ask me).

I have a couple of brazilian friends in that situation. It was pretty confusing the first time... (imagine: someone introduces you to his father and the last name of the old guy is different from the one of the son. You start to think: what's going on in this family?).

So, in a more gender equal world, yes, he is a true Senna.

As for me, after hearing that kind of progressive "last name thinking", I became, instantly and forever, a proud García. After all, half of me comes from there.

I guess some of you, not familiar with this custom, could think that the last name of Ayrton Senna's father was Senna, right? Well, it's not true.

The great Ayrton did the same thing: the last name of Ayrton's father is Da Silva, guys. He took his mother's maiden name (or his second last name) so his father couldn't realize so quickly that his son was racing (I guess that in the end the old man found out).

--
Ciro García

[ringo]

@ andrew I said potential. He is doing ok as a driver right now. But who knows if it was a mutual agreement with HRT to give up his seat.
Rememeber the car basically wont develope like the lotus or virgin. He'd be strugling the whole year, and possibly beaten by chandock.
I think think he rather make a return in a better environment.

[ringo]

Technically his last name is not Senna, because his mom is Senna's sister right? I know Spanish speaking countries ussualy keep 2 last names, but his dad's name is his true last name. He should use that one and save himself any potential embarrassment

Well, some brazilians use the mother's maiden name (as english speakers would say) or your second last name (as a spanish speaker would say) as last name.

Apparently, it's their pick (and one that could be pretty politically correct for some people, if you ask me).

I have a couple of brazilian friends in that situation. It was pretty confusing the first time... (imagine: someone introduces you to his father and the last name of the old guy is different from the one of the son. You start to think: what's going on in this family?).

So, in a more gender equal world, yes, he is a true Senna.

As for me, after hearing that kind of progressive "last name thinking", I became, instantly and forever, a proud García. After all, half of me comes from there.

--
Ciro García

But you know genetically, the father's name is more correct. I get the gender equality thing, but a male gets his Y chromosome from the father, and from his father, and so on. This is what defines him as a Senna man, which he is not.
Therefore, he cannot have his uncle's manly driving skills, only that of his own father, or maybe from his mother, or her mother.


I find this switching last name think insulting to any father. Bruno could easily call his son Senna, completely disregading the Lalli family name.

[Mitsuhirato]

Quote from Ayrton Senna's wikipedia entry

As Silva is a very common Brazilian name, he adopted his mother's maiden name, Senna.

So uh, guess "Senna, the first" didn't have manly driving skills...

[ringo]

Yes, but any how you look at it. Bruno does not have whatever his uncle had.
Bruno Senna is no Sena and neither is he Silva.
There is no genetical handing down of Ayrton Senna's skills.

these are genetical hand me downs:

Graham to Damon, Gilles to Jacques, Keke to Nico.

oh yes, Nelson to Piquet Jr.

[Mitsuhirato]

Well, if he is Ayrton's nephew, that means he's at least 1/2 "Senna da Silva", because his mother is also a full "Senna da Silva".

By your logic, there is 1/2 chance for him to have his uncle's "genetical skills", as you've referred them.

[andrew]

You can't compare the two as the cars and the requirments on the drivers have changes so much since the early 80s. Back then a surprise result by a lower team was possible. Today that is impossible unless a hell of a lot of cars retire for some reason.

I would query your theory on genetic links though and would think it is more to do with an environment that a person is brought up in. The fathers were good but Damon Hill won in the best car in 96 and then became a mid-field runner and only did well due to luck more than anything. Same for Jacques Villineuve. Won a championship then nothing. Nico Rosberg has been in F1 a good few years now but sadly so far he is a mid-field runner at best with only brief glimmers of his old man's abilities. I think drivers skills come from practised abilities not genetics though if you have been brought up in a certain environment you will probably pick up something from those around you, but I don't buy the genetic thing at all. By that reasoning, I should be scared of heights, excellent at maths and hate snakes. In fact I love being up high (love roof inspections in the summer - great views, shame about the seagulls!), crap with numbers and snakes don't bother me.

[Mitsuhirato]

Guess having "************* snakes, on a ************* plane", doesn't bother you at all then.

But back to the topic, it seems it would be in fact better for HRT to have an experienced F1 driver. Could they rotate between Chandook and Senna?

[andrew]

The film does. From what I have seen of it and read about it, it was terrible, but no the reptiles do not bother me at all.

[manchild]

Yes, but any how you look at it. Bruno does not have whatever his uncle had.
Bruno Senna is no Sena and neither is he Silva.
There is no genetical handing down of Ayrton Senna's skills.

these are genetical hand me downs:

Graham to Damon, Gilles to Jacques, Keke to Nico.

oh yes, Nelson to Piquet Jr.

When asked about Bruno, Ayrton said "you think I'm good, wait till you see him".

Judging a driver in a car that is anything but F1 belonging car is really leading to bad conclusions.

Button was a midfielder for so many years because he drove poor cars, now he is established as "great champion".

Give Bruno some time and a good car...

[gibells]

Fair enough. But the same has to be said for too many drivers in the past who haven't had a fair shake at the stick. The question is are we being more sympathetic to him because he has an endearing last name?

[timbo]

Problem is, the only sponsors Hispania seem to have are because of him.
However, Bernie has a hand in the team and needs Chandhok.
So, no ride for Senna.
Anyway, it is a shame that he won't race on circuit where his uncle first drove F1 car.

[ecapox]

I find this strange. He has a car that is barely capable of finishing a GP2 race adn now we are questioning his "Senna-ness". Is he Ayrton? No. Will he ever be Ayrton? No. Will he ever be a good driver? Yes.

He is in the worst car in the field. You cant judge a drivers skills on that. He is better than his teammmate, i'd say. And not only that, but if they dropped him for just this race, if i were one of the sponsors, i'd want some of my $$ back. Do we really think Yams is gonna do better? I think not. No where even close.

This is a sad move by a desperate team that shouldnt even be in F1.

[gridwalker]

The great Ayrton did the same thing: the last name of Ayrton's father is Da Silva, guys. He took his mother's maiden name (or his second last name) so his father couldn't realize so quickly that his son was racing (I guess that in the end the old man found out).

Really? I heard him say in an interview that he chose Senna over Da Silva because Da Silva is such a common name in Brazil that he wouldn't have stood out during his early years if he was using it (essentially, it gave him a more unique identity) ...

[Spencifer_Murphy]

The great Ayrton did the same thing: the last name of Ayrton's father is Da Silva, guys. He took his mother's maiden name (or his second last name) so his father couldn't realize so quickly that his son was racing (I guess that in the end the old man found out).

Really? I heard him say in an interview that he chose Senna over Da Silva because Da Silva is such a common name in Brazil that he wouldn't have stood out during his early years if he was using it (essentially, it gave him a more unique identity) ...

Gridwalker is right. Ayrton's father built/bought/had made (delete as appropriate) him his first Go-Kart and sent him racing as a young boy. Ayrton never had to hide racing from his father. His full name is/was Ayrton Senna da Silva, but he chose to be known (when racing) as Ayrton Senna as da Silva is a very common name in Portugese speaking nations.

Ayrton never had to hide is racing, as he was racing go-karts from a young age. Bruno on the otherhand had a family who, inititally for fairly obvious reasons, were reluctant to have him race after the tragic events of 1994.