Is Bruni sadly being overlooked?

[NiceGuyEddie]

Gianmaria Bruni, Minardi-warrior, is totally dominating teammate Zsolt Baumgartner. Not unlike Gene was dominating Mazzacane, Alonso was dominating Marques and Yoong and Webber that same Yoong and Davidson (up to a point, I still believe Davidson did an awesome job those GP's).

Both Alonso and Webber shot through to F1 stardom and therefor hot property amongst teamowners, whereas Gene did well in picking up a serious developmenttask.

But how about Bruni? I wouldn't directly say that Baumgartner is beneath Yoong or Mazzacane, but somehow Bruni doesn't seem to be heading for the big times. He nearly ever gets mentioned. Why is that? Isn't he doing what he is supposed to be doing, meaning thrashing Baumgartner even harder, or is it that he, unlike Alonso and Webber, didn't really make a name for himself in other classes?

Both Webber and Alonso were acknowledged talents when they got in the Minardi, and them beating their teammates hands down was seen as confirmation of that talent. Bruni did some friday-drives at Minardi in 2003. On those occasions he wasn't really troubled in keeping up with experienced Jos Verstappen. Sure, the Verstappen-people were quick to point out that Bruni was running in low fuel and new tyres, but if that is the only thing you need in your first outings in an F1car to match a much more experienced (and presumably quick) driver, than you are doing a hell of a job. Kiesa was absolutely no match for Bruni.

Is there a future in F1 for Bruni?
Should there be a future in F1 for Bruni?

[Dani Filth]

future . could be . but i don;t think it will be with a top team .i can't see him with more then Minardi or Jordan at the moment ..

[the_royksopp]

Well, he's certainly better than Baumgartner, but i think it's hard to judge.

Baumgartner is probably even worse than Alex Yoong. I mean, he hasnt won anything of the slightest importance.

And we cant really see Bruni upagainst any of the other drivers, because the Minardi is so much worse than even Jordan.

Many people noticed, that Bruni was faster than Kiesa in the last three friday-tests last year, but that was with better material and lower fuel than Kiesa had. So i'm not really sure. But i guess he could become a test driver for a big team, or maybe get a seat at Sauber or Jaguar.

[BootsOntheSide]

Beating their team-mates wasn't really what got Webber or Alonso noticed though. Webber's testing times at Renault, and the fact that Alonso was able to run ahead of mroe impressive cars, as well as their excellent F3000 records and support from Flavio, were much bigger factors.

Also, thanks to the Friday testing you mention, Bruni is effectively more experienced that Baumgartner, whereas Alonso was much less experienced than Marques, and Webber about equal to Yoong (and more of his experience was ina top-level car, which is less use for Minardi. So I think this is a very different case.

All the same, Bruni does seem to be doing pretty respectably. Consdiering the car's apparent total lack of reliability and drivability, he's doing well to keep it on track.

[minirda]

I don't think Massa, Sato and Klien would do a better job in the Minardi. On the other hand, i can imagin Bruni would do better as the ones mentioned, driving Sauber, BAR or Jaguar. Anyway it's hard to tell. I certainly hope he gets his change to show his abilities in a better car.

[429CJ]

Bruni could be the next Italian hope. Of course there's always Liuzzi....

[NiceGuyEddie]

Originally posted by BootsOntheSide
Beating their team-mates wasn't really what got Webber or Alonso noticed though. Webber's testing times at Renault, and the fact that Alonso was able to run ahead of mroe impressive cars, as well as their excellent F3000 records and support from Flavio, were much bigger factors.

Oh I don't know. The 2001 Minardi actually was a quite capable car. You couldn't expect Bruni to be anywhere near a non-Minardi car in this season.

Also, thanks to the Friday testing you mention, Bruni is effectively more experienced that Baumgartner, whereas Alonso was much less experienced than Marques, and Webber about equal to Yoong (and more of his experience was ina top-level car, which is less use for Minardi. So I think this is a very different case.

Bruni had a go at four or five events, if I am correctly. I believe he first sat in the car at Hockenheim.

All the same, Bruni does seem to be doing pretty respectably. Consdiering the car's apparent total lack of reliability and drivability, he's doing well to keep it on track.

Only to be outqualified by Baumgartner today

[Jordi]

Oh, the 2001 Minardi wasn't a capable car, remember the team was assembled quickly before the start of the season, and the cars were not much different from the M02s used in 2000...

[NiceGuyEddie]

Still, it was a good car. Compared to the opposition, it was definatly better than today's car. Besides, it was a Gustav Brunner-original, had a very effective chassis and back then Minardi had Arrows and Prost to play with. I didn't see Alonso holding on to any Jordan in 2001, allthough Jordan was doing better in those days.