Bruno Senna: Ayrton's Nephew, Williams Driver and LMP2 Champion

Bruno Senna grew up in Sao Paulo with one of motorsport's most famous family names. Taught karting by his grandfather and his uncle Ayrton, he came through British Formula 3 and GP2 before reaching Formula One. He later won the 2017 LMP2 title with Rebellion Racing and raced in Formula E for Mahindra.

His career is one of steady progress rather than dramatic peaks. He spent three seasons in Formula One with three different teams, then built a second career in endurance racing and broadcasting.

How did Senna start racing?

Senna began karting on the family farm at the age of five, learning from his grandfather Milton and his uncle Ayrton. In 2004 he raced six events in Formula BMW UK with Carlin, scoring six points. The following year he moved into British Formula 3 with the Raikkonen Robertson Racing team, where he finished tenth overall. The team was run by Kimi Raikkonen, then a McLaren Formula One driver, and his managers David and Steve Robertson.

Ayrton rated his nephew's potential very highly when Bruno was young. Gerhard Berger, Ayrton's McLaren teammate from 1990 to 1992, became a close friend of the family and advised Bruno on his career. His sister Bianca managed his affairs and sponsorship, and the family's businesses in Brazil cover agriculture and cars.

Ayrton's death at the 1994 San Marino Grand Prix had halted Bruno's own career for a time. A decade later, at Imola, an Italian friend gave him one of Ayrton's 1986 Lotus 98T cars. Senna drove it at the 2004 Brazilian Grand Prix meeting at Interlagos, where his uncle had won in 1991 and 1993.

A famous surname, a Formula One stint across three teams and a 2017 LMP2 title won in the final race at Bahrain.

How did his British Formula 3 years go?

In 2005 Senna finished tenth in the British Formula Three Championship, with three podiums in the last seven races. In 2006 he finished third in the series behind champion Mike Conway and Oliver Jarvis, winning five races. He took the first two races at Oulton Park in the wet and then won at Donington and Mugello.

The 2006 season also brought a major accident at Snetterton. On lap two his wheels clashed with those of Salvador Duran at nearly 240 km/h (150 mph), and his car took off, cartwheeled and slid along the barrier. He walked away, but the car was too badly damaged to repair in time for the second race.

He also raced in the Formula Three support events at the 2006 Australian Grand Prix, winning three of the four races. His first-race lap of 1:50.8640 set a Formula Three record at Melbourne that, as of 2016, remained the fastest non-Formula One lap of the circuit.

That autumn he appeared in an eight-part Sky One series called Vroom Vroom, driving different test cars to the top of a multi-storey car park. Earlier in 2006 he had also been a guest in a Porsche Supercup event at Monaco, where a clutch failure ended his race at the first corner.

How did the GP2 years prepare him?

Senna joined Arden International for the 2007 GP2 Series. He finished fourth on debut in Bahrain and won the feature race in Spain. He finished the season in the top ten with one win and three podiums, his third full year of single-seater racing.

Before that, in June 2007, he had raced a Ferrari F430 in the Ferrari Challenge at Silverstone, winning both races from pole. The purpose was to learn the circuit, which was on the GP2 calendar.

In 2008 he moved to iSport International, where Karun Chandhok was his teammate. A collision with a stray dog at Istanbul damaged his suspension and ended his race, but he won the GP2 feature race at Monte Carlo. It was the first time in 15 years that the Senna name had reached the top of a leaderboard in the principality. He finished the year as runner-up to Giorgio Pantano.

What did 2009 bring after GP2?

After a November 2008 Honda test at Barcelona, where he came within 0.3 seconds of Jenson Button, Senna hoped for a 2009 Formula One seat. Honda then withdrew from the sport with immediate effect, and Rubens Barrichello re-signed with Brawn GP, which cut Senna's route in.

He considered his options. He turned down a DTM deal with Mercedes because he wanted to focus fully on his Formula One chances, and he negotiated with Manor GP, Campos Meta and a team rumoured to be Brawn GP. He also decided against negotiating with Lotus, for sentimental reasons, since his uncle Ayrton had taken his first win for Team Lotus.

Instead he joined an Oreca LMP1 car for the Le Mans Series and the 24 Hours of Le Mans, which kept him race fit. He told the BBC at the time that it was important to enter Formula One then, or he would never do so.

What happened in his Formula One career?

Senna signed for Campos Meta in October 2009 for the 2010 season, a team that was renamed Hispania Racing. He raced for HRT in 2010 alongside Karun Chandhok. After nine races he was replaced for the British Grand Prix by Sakon Yamamoto, and he returned for the German Grand Prix.

HRT announced on 7 January 2011 that he would not race for them that year. Renault then signed him as a test and reserve driver on 31 January 2011. In February he shared Jerez testing with Nick Heidfeld, as the team assessed its drivers to replace the injured Robert Kubica for 2011, and he made his first appearance at the Hungarian Grand Prix in practice, replacing Nick Heidfeld.

Heidfeld was given the race seat, but Senna took it over for the remaining races of the season. He qualified seventh for the Belgian Grand Prix and finished 13th after a collision with Jaime Alguersuari at the first corner. He scored his first Formula One points with ninth at the Italian Grand Prix, and he finished 15th in Singapore, 12th in India and 17th at Brazil.

On 17 January 2012 Williams confirmed him as a driver, partnering Pastor Maldonado. He first sought his family's blessing, since his uncle had raced for Williams when he died. He scored his first points for the team with sixth at the Malaysian Grand Prix, which gave Williams more points that day than in all of 2011. In Spain he retired after a collision with Michael Schumacher, and a fire then broke out in the Williams garage.

In Spain Maldonado won his first Grand Prix while Senna retired from a collision with Michael Schumacher. He finished 10th at Monaco and 17th in Canada. At the European Grand Prix a collision with Kamui Kobayashi brought a drive-through penalty that left him last, before a late promotion to tenth after Maldonado was penalised for a collision with Lewis Hamilton. He was ninth in Britain after a strong start.

At Belgium he set his first career fastest lap, although a late puncture dropped him from eighth to 12th. He finished the 2012 season 16th in the championship with 31 points. Williams dropped him on 28 November 2012 in favour of Valtteri Bottas for 2013.

What about his sports car and endurance career?

On 5 February 2013 Aston Martin Racing confirmed Senna for the WEC and Le Mans. He won at Silverstone and took another podium at Spa that year. At Le Mans the GTE Aston Martin he shared started from pole, but a serious crash with five hours to go ended the race.

At Sao Paulo in 2013 contact with cars ahead damaged his suspension and forced him out. He was then a factory driver for the McLaren GT3 project from 9 February 2015. His biggest endurance success came in 2017 with Rebellion Racing, when he, Julien Canal and Nico Prost won the LMP2 world championship. The title went to the final race at Bahrain, where the team's car lost power steering during the last stint. The car carrying the number thirteen was in a close fight with a Jackie Chan DC Racing car at that race. Senna muscled through the final 50 minutes to win the race and the title.

How did Formula E and broadcasting fit in?

Mahindra Racing confirmed Senna and Karun Chandhok as its Formula E drivers for 2014-15. The pair had also been HRT teammates in 2010, so the partnership was a familiar one for both. He stayed for 2015-16 and then left the series when he did not re-sign for 2016-17.

On 7 March 2014 Sky Sports F1 added him to its line-up for seven races, where he also commentated during practice with David Croft and provided race analysis on presentation days. On 8 March 2016 Channel 4 announced him as part of its Formula One coverage, with special features across the season.

What is his link to Airspeeder?

On 10 March 2022 the electric vertical take-off racing series Airspeeder named Senna as a development pilot and global ambassador. He was to help develop the sport as it moved towards its first crewed grand prix, working with the company's engineers on onboard safety technology.

Helmet design and honours

Senna's helmet is based on his uncle's design. It is yellow, with a green S-shaped stripe edged in blue and white and a blue stripe edged in green and white. A green band runs under the chin, and a blue rounded panel sits near the top.

Career summary