Senna ready for daunting debut

Bruno Senna is under no illusions he would have a mountain to climb if suddenly thrown into Formula One this season.

Senna continues to be linked with Honda Racing, the team currently up for sale and in a race against time to be on the grid for the season-opening Australian Grand Prix in just over five weeks.

The present suggestion of a planned management buyout, led by chief executive Nick Fry, has failed to interest the team’s owners in Japan, Honda Motor Co.

Richard Branson’s Virgin Group are understood to have made a bid, and if rumours are to be believed, is now the only viable offer of survival on the table.

Although work at the team’s factory headquarters in Brackley has continued over the winter, it is felt the end of next week is the deadline if they are to be ready in time for Melbourne.

Brazilian Senna, the nephew of the late three-time world champion Ayrton, is the driver strongly tipped to join forces with Jenson Button should Honda survive.

But the 25-year-old, who finished second in GP2 last season, knows “it would certainly be a big challenge” if thrown in at the deep end.

“To race in F1 you need to grab all chances with both hands, even when they look very difficult, because you may get no more of them after that,” Senna told Autosprint.

“I think no driver in the last few years has had his F1 debut with so little testing mileage.

“However, it’s always better to be in F1, even under difficult conditions, than to be out of it.

“To race in GP2 for another season would have been useless for me.

“It would be a difficult debut, I know, but initially there won’t be big pressure or expectations, because at the moment no-one considers the ex-Honda squad a top team.

“So the pressure would be less and I’ll eventually adapt in a quicker and easier way.

“At least I can say I know the (Melbourne) track, having already raced and won there in Australian F3.”

Senna has revealed Honda are ready with a car for the new season, even if it has yet to be put through on-track testing.

“Since Honda announced its retirement, the team have carried on working,” he added.

“Maybe not as intensively as they would have had Honda kept going, but the technicians have nevertheless carried on with the project of the new car according to schedule.

“Let’s just say that, if before the Australian GP I managed to run for at least three, four days, doing about 1,200km, then that’d be a dream.”