Bruno Senna scored the first points of his F1 career in Monza.
| Bruno Senna | Vitaly Petrov | |
| Qualifying position | 10 | 7 |
| Qualifying time comparison (Q2) | 1’24.157 (+0.416) | 1’23.741 |
| Race position | 9 | |
| Laps | 52/53 | 0/53 |
| Pit stops | 3 | 0 |
Renault drivers’ lap times throughout the race (in seconds):
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 | 28 | 29 | 30 | 31 | 32 | 33 | 34 | 35 | 36 | 37 | 38 | 39 | 40 | 41 | 42 | 43 | 44 | 45 | 46 | 47 | 48 | 49 | 50 | 51 | 52 | 53 | |
| Bruno Senna | 132.526 | 145.02 | 131.944 | 95.013 | 93.081 | 91.754 | 91.269 | 91.165 | 91.416 | 90.965 | 91.139 | 91.24 | 91.166 | 91.025 | 90.835 | 90.516 | 90.879 | 92.863 | 94.187 | 110.362 | 89.624 | 89.517 | 89.719 | 89.737 | 89.796 | 92.628 | 89.185 | 89.478 | 89.366 | 89.234 | 89.174 | 89.292 | 89.235 | 89.632 | 88.778 | 89.26 | 88.931 | 89.602 | 89.269 | 92.736 | 107.58 | 87.894 | 88.625 | 89.544 | 88.673 | 88.622 | 89.202 | 88.257 | 87.473 | 87.443 | 86.895 | 86.921 | |
| Vitaly Petrov |
Bruno Senna
| Start tyre | Medium |
| Pit stop 1 | Soft 22.534s |
| Pit stop 2 | Soft 23.145s |
| Pit stop 3 | Soft 22.273s |
Senna made it into Q3 with a late effort to knock Paul di Resta out. After that he elected not to run in Q3 to save tyres.
Unlike his team mate, Senna survived the first corner but lost several places: “Everybody was cutting the chicane which forced me to drive on the outside,” he said “and in the process I lost all the places I had fought so hard for in qualifying.”
Having dropped to 15th he came into the pits to get rid of the medium tyres he had started on and switch to softs. He was the only driver to pit three times as he completed the rest of the race on soft tyres.
Late in the race he passed Sebastien Buemi for ninth place, diving past the Toro Rosso from a long way back at the first corner.
He then set off after di Resta and was within a second of the Force India as they finished the race.
“The pace of the car was clear for all to see, but I wish the race was just one lap longer because I may have been able to pass Paul for eighth,” he added.
Vitaly Petrov
| Start tyre | Soft |
Petrov did a lap good enough for the top ten early in Q2, then chose not to run again and made it through to the final stage. Another strong lap put him seventh on the grid – his best qualifying position since the Spanish Grand Prix.
However his was was ruined when he was hit by Vitantonio Liuzzi on the first lap: “Vitantonio?óÔé¼Ôäós HRT came from nowhere and hit me big time, which brought my race to an end.
“There?óÔé¼Ôäós nothing I could have done to avoid this. First of all, I?óÔé¼Ôäóm happy not to be injured, as the impact was quite strong and it could have been a nasty accident.
“We have put in so much effort since Spa, at the track, Enstone and Viry, so I?óÔé¼Ôäóm sorry that wasn?óÔé¼Ôäót translated into points today. This is part of racing, but I can?óÔé¼Ôäót help thinking that we could have secured a good result.”
2011 Italian Grand Prix
John H
12th September 2011, 13:31
Watching Senna’s on board footage towards the end of the race as he was attacking Buemi left me a bit underwhelmed to be honest – he wasn’t exactly attacking the racetrack. He should have got 8th in all honesty.
As for Petrov, really pleased he’s ok. That was a nasty one.
SirCoolbeans (@sircoolbeans)
12th September 2011, 13:36
Eighth could have been a possibility, I’d agree with you there, but remember it was Senna’s first real chance at points in F1 and it was approaching the end of his second race for the team. If I was him I’d have been cautious too.
He would have looked a fool to throw anything away at that stage. Instead he picked up two points and can build on that.
bosyber
13th September 2011, 15:19
True, this is his first real race in a competitive car, no wonder he still is getting used to an end-of-race fight, after being happy to finish two-from-last in a HRT.
BasCB (@bascb)
12th September 2011, 14:17
Funny how its the second time he was in with a chance of good points when he got knocked out of the race (last time in Monaco.)
TheBrav3
12th September 2011, 19:49
well done bruno not bad i think. Considering he drove from very nearly last place after the petrov incident back into the points
bosyber
13th September 2011, 15:21
Petrov you mean? Yes, pity for him and his team, but I’m happy for the midfield fight as it brought FI and STR more points.
matt90 (@matt90)
12th September 2011, 19:53
Considering how close he came to wiping out Buemi when he did attack the racetrack, I think he was right to be somewhat cautious for his first points. He was unlucky to be held up at the start, I’m glad to to see him driving solidly though.
TheBrav3
12th September 2011, 20:42
Yeah that scrap with buemi was close looked like it was all over for a moment.
SirCoolbeans (@sircoolbeans)
12th September 2011, 13:32
Petrov was very unlucky at the start. Which was a shame, but I guess that’s racing.
It’s been a positive start for Senna, I can see him and Petrov having an interesting battle as the season comes to a close.
Senna couldn’t stop smiling in his post race interview on the BBC. It was great to see.
Brend
12th September 2011, 14:12
Guys… was it really necessary to include Petrov in the chart? I mean – come on, he didn’t even do a lap…
Keith Collantine (@keithcollantine)
12th September 2011, 14:19
Hardly seems worth complaining about. You can always turn his non-line off if it bothers you that much.
bosyber
13th September 2011, 15:23
Do you create these graphs automatically Keith?
Anyway, I don’t really see why it’s a problem, the first lap(s) crashers are also included in the full-grid graph so we get the full picture. Easy enough to just switch the one line off if it really bothers you.
Tiomkin
12th September 2011, 15:06
It’s there for completeness.
Eggry (@eggry)
12th September 2011, 22:39
Not great but good enough. More race tell us his real talent.
wasiF1 (@wasif1)
13th September 2011, 2:54
Senna is so far proving his point,wish him all the best in the coming races.
HelloKittyF1
13th September 2011, 22:03
not impressed by senna again. still think petrov and senna are quite poor.
Shimks
14th September 2011, 11:30
I’ve been really impressed by Senna. He’s not got that much F1 experience (10? races with HRT) and his start with his new team has been much more mature than I expected. I’ve got my fingers crossed for great success for the lad.
AndrewTanner (@andrewtanner)
14th September 2011, 18:14
He’s having a solid start to be fair.
AndrewTanner (@andrewtanner)
14th September 2011, 18:17
Disappointed for Petrov. There was a bit of a Russian contingent where we were sat (Parabolica) for the race and they never got to see him!