Bruno Senna to take Heidfeld's place at Renault for Spa

Most drivers who fail in F1 fail downwards – that is, they drop down to another form of motorsport and change focus. But if your name is Senna, you fail up.

Having tested for Honda before it closed up shop and quit F1, Bruno Senna took the only chance he had to get onto the grid when he debuted with the Hispania Racing Team. That didn't work out so well – mostly, truth be told, because the team wasn't up to speed – but after retiring from as many races as he finished and failing to score a single championship point, he was released by HRT.

The nephew of the late, great Ayrton Senna was then picked up as a test driver for the Renault team, which has now announced that it will be giving Bruno a chance to race again this weekend. He'll be taking the place of Nick Heidfeld, who himself was brought in to fill in for an injured Robert Kubica.

That Heidfeld was actually doing better than his teammate Vitaly Petrov in the standings so far this season didn't seem to deter the Renault strategists in their desire to shake up its driver lineup over the summer break. Whether Senna is kept on or replaced in turn will likely depend on his performance, so we'll be watching this weekend and waiting until the team makes a more detailed announcement.

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