Renault boss Eric Boullier encouraged by Bruno Senna's debut
Page last updated at 09:41 GMT, Monday, 29 August 2011 10:41 UK
Crash chaos at start of Belgium GP
Renault boss Eric Boullier thinks Bruno Senna is capable of scoring points after the Brazilian's difficult debut for the team in the Belgian Grand Prix.
Senna qualified an impressive seventh at Spa-Francorchamps but a crash at the start, which resulted in a drive-through penalty, saw him finish 13th.
"He needs to improve on this but [it was] a good race," said Boullier.
"If he can deliver like he did this weekend in every race I think he will be good enough to bring points home."
Senna, nephew of the late triple world champion Ayrton, made his F1 debut for Spanish outfit HRT last season but struggled to make an impact.
Unfortunately I misjudged a little bit the braking point and the grip on the inside of the first corner and I ended up hitting Jaime Alguersuari
Bruno Senna
Renault F1 driver
He signed for Renault as their reserve driver this season and was promoted to the race seat after the team demoted German driver Nick Heidfeld.
Having not raced since last November, the Brazilian's race craft was understandably rusty and he later admitted that he had got his braking distances wrong at the start when he ploughed into Toro Rosso's Jaime Alguersuari.
"Unfortunately I misjudged the braking point a little bit and the grip on the inside [of the first corner] and I ended up hitting Jaime," said Senna who is yet to be confirmed in the race seat beyond the next race at Monza on 11 September.
"It was very unfortunate and I'm sorry for him. Then it was unfortunate with the penalty and I tried to push as hard as possible from the back and see what I could get."
Despite the first corner incident, Senna was pleased with his overall performance.
"It was a tough task to ask for the perfect weekend on my first race in the middle of the season," he said. "But I think I managed to pull it off pretty well.
"In terms of performance, there was not much else I could do and I think the team are satisfied.
"The important thing is I finished the race and got many laps under my belt. For Monza, I have much better experience and a much better feeling for what can be done."
Credit: BBC (www.bbc.co.uk)
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