THE FACTS

Bruno Senna's short career in Formula 1 appears to be over. HRT has named Narain Karthikeyan as its primary driver for 2011 and team principal Collin Colles has confirmed that Senna is not even in the running for the second seat. "I can definitely say that Mr. Bruno Senna is not going to race for HRT, 100% not," he told Reuters.

With seats scarce and financial backing more important than ever, things are looking tough for Bruno. "The situation is a bit difficult in F1 right now," Senna told Reuters. "I didn't really have the opportunity to show what I could do last year because of various problems and that didn't help me for this season." Being dumped this late in the process likely means that Senna will not find a place in single-seat racing in 2011.

Senna's former teammate - Karun Chandhok - is also on the hunt for a seat and will most likely be forced to take a reserve role.

MY TAKE

I was not particularly impressed with Senna at any point in 2011 and if it were only him crying about the money situation I would probably just write it off as sour grapes. But if you look closely, you find that there is some real talent left out of the game this year due to lack of financial backing. Foremost among them is Nico Hulkenberg who has now accepted a reserve role at Force India.

Karthikeyan comes to HRT with massive financial backing from Indian car giant Tata.

This leaves Force India as the only team yet to name its drivers for 2011. I believe that Adrian Sutil and Paul di Resta will be officially named within the next week. That will leave veteran driver Tonio Liuzzi out in the cold.

In the end, this "pay to play" environment should not surprise anyone - especially in the current world economy. But it is tough to see less talented or little-known drivers taking the seats of proven F1 talent like Hulkenberg. If Nico can't score a seat, less talented drivers like Senna have no chance.

I guess the most famous name in F1 history can only get you so far - even in a sport that deifies its heroes.

Just my take.

SOURCES

Bruno Senna out of running for HRT drive - Colin Kolles | HRT F1 | Formula 1 news, live F1 | ESPN F1

autosport.com - F1 News: Senna fears 2011 F1 hopes are fading

 

I understand that F1 is a business, but it's a shame that a bunch of potential is being skipped over for those who can pay for their seat. What a bummer.

 

Exactly - the sport deifies its heroes, not their nephews.

 

I always wanted to see Bruno in a better car, he after all was just shy of Button's time when testing the old Honda. I know he didn't do too well this year, but I wish he had one more year.

 

 

makes perfect sense imo.

 

I turned down 2011 HRT offer, says Chandhok - GPUpdate.net

I turned down 2011 HRT offer, says Chandhok

Karun Chandhok has explained how he turned down an offer from Hispania Racing for the 2011 season, with fellow Indian countryman Narain Karthikeyan having been confirmed by the Spanish outfit earlier today.

Chandhok drove with the Murcia-based squad for its first ten Grands Prix last season, Bahrain in March up to Great Britain in July, although the Mumbai man has explained that rejoining the team would not be a logical decision for 2011.

“Narain's return is good as Indian F1 fans will see at least one of our own drivers featuring in the inaugural Delhi race,” Chandhok told the Indo-Asian News Service (IANS).

“I had the offer from them but I turned it down because it would not have served my purpose in the long run. Racing for the team in the first year made sense, but now I am looking at a team that could fetch me points.”

When asked about his own Formula 1 future, Chandhok replied:

“I have zeroed in on two teams but I wouldn't like to reveal the names until I finalise the deal, which might come through in a couple of weeks.”