“I’ll be in Formula One next year” - Senna

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Published: 08 October, 2009, 19:57

Brazilian driver Bruno Senna (AFP Photo / Jean-Francois Monier)

25-year-old Ayrton Senna’s nephew, Bruno, says he will be racing in Formula 1 next season, autosport.com reports. Earlier, the Brazilian missed out on a deal to race with the Brawn GP team in 2009.

The 2008 GP2 runner-up came very close to a deal with the former Honda team, but in the end the Brackley-based squad decided to retain Rubens Barrichello alongside Jenson Button.

Senna the younger has spent this season successfully racing in the Le Mans Series but his number one goal is making it to F1 one day.

Speaking to reporters at the new Abu Dhabi circuit, the Brazilian assured them he will be on the grid next year.

"Pretty high, in the 90s [per cent]," Senna said about his chances of being in F1 next year. "I'm happy about it. It's been a very tough year. Sometimes I found myself feeling a bit far away from F1. But we were slowly trying to get back into it.

"Obviously the beginning of the year was very tough because people were only talking about double diffusers and regulations, so it's been really hard to actually have good contact with the teams, because they have been really having some difficult worries about other things other than drivers.

"But eventually you get in touch, see what the real options were, and we focused on these options and here we are, quite close to getting a deal."

Senna will be able to announce something by Grand Prix at the Interlagos circuit later in October, he added.

Bruno’s uncle, three-time F1 world champion Ayrton Senna, died in 1994 in a crash while leading the San Marino Grand Prix. It is the last death of an F1 driver to date.