Hey, it's just a silly rumour. Don't get so excited too early.
I reckon this might not all depends of Senna's results, but also of the checks he brings. Although Williams already have plenty of bucks coming from Chavez via Maldonado, and perhaps could do without a 2nd pay driver.
Making a replacement mid-season does not seem to be such a great idea though, as Bottas doesn't know many of the non-European tracks. I think they would rather do it for 2013.
As much as I like Senna as a person, as a driver he just doesn't seem to cut it. Would be great to see Bottas in the hotseat, not just cos he's an LFS license holder but because he deserves it after being TD for so long.
Yes, I understand. 2012 was going to be too early though, as making the jump from GP3 to F1 is a bit too much to ask.
That says, he's sitting in a pretty good place right now. I kinda like his career path so far. Several seasons of F3/GP3, then one season of Friday practices, while he can learn how an F1 team, work with no real pressure. Way to build an individual and make him mature properly, without rushing him into the headlights too soon(ie: Alguersuari).
Some could argue that a season of WSR/GP2 level might be missing. But avoiding GP2 might have been a good call, as the championship favours experienced drivers big times these days, which makes it hard for rookies to get into pace quickly.
That said, we might been burrying Senna too soon. Keep in mind that he was leading Maldonado in the points before Barcelona, 14 to 4. And he has had a fabulous drive in the wet at Sepang, as BlueFlame pointed out.
Nevertheless I think they are speaking the truth in that case. It just doesn't make much sence to rush Bottas in the hot seat right now. But the speculations remain open for 2013.
Before Spain, most people would have said Senna is better than Maldonado. Judging someone on 1 race is always dangerous. I'm fairly sure most drivers on the grid are capable of winning races given the right opportunity, so to turn Maldonado into a hero for doing it is quite stupid, and saying Senna is sh*t for not doing it is also stupid.
Yes, but gaps of 5 and 8 seconds say that after all he did a REAL good job
Pos Driver Team Time Gap 1. Valtteri Bottas Williams-Renault 1m31.436s 2. Max Chilton Marussia-Cosworth 1m36.558s + 5.122s 3. Ma Qing Hua HRT-Cosworth 1m39.462s + 8.026s
However, the end of the test brought a bit more reasonable gaps on International circuit
Pos Driver Team Time 1. Valtteri Bottas Williams-Renault 48.963s 2. Max Chilton Marussia-Cosworth 49.932s + 0.969s 3. Rio Haryanto Marussia-Cosworth 50.405s + 1.442s
Taking nothing away from the guy but the car is about 3 sec quicker, add the fact he has been driving the car for almost a year now and did FP1 at Silverstone a year ago when the other two have never driven an F1 car before, he should have been quicker than them. Not much to take from these results in my opinion, Valterri needs to get himself a big sponsor and get a seat in F1 before he can move up.
Not really a fair comparison as today and yesterday was pretty rubbish weather and a lot colder than sunday.
