Did Senna e-mail spark Yamamoto replacement..?
It appears there may have been rather more to Bruno Senna's absence from the British Grand Prix last weekend than monetary issues, if a German magazine is to be believed - with suggestions that an inflammatory e-mail mistakenly sent by the Brazilian rookie to Hispania Racing (HRT) team principal Dr. Colin Kolles was at the crux of the matter.
Senna was inexplicably dropped on the eve of practice day at Silverstone, and a promised explanation on Friday never came, leading to a number of hypotheses within the paddock, the most viable of which seemed to be that one of the 26-year-old's sponsors had failed to produce the goods at the eleventh hour and that well-heeled test and reserve driver Sakon Yamamoto - reputedly able to lay his hands on some $5 million - was therefore parachuted in to take his place.
Both Senna and team-mate Karun Chandhok have been the subject of speculation this season that they are on the verge of losing their seats due to funding shortfalls and rivals with greater financial backing, but during practice day at Silverstone, it was announced by HRT that Senna would return for next weekend's German Grand Prix at Hockenheim and henceforth remain in the car for the balance of the campaign - again without reasoning for the volte-face.
Now, Auto Bild Motorsport claims the Paulista wrote an e-mail fiercely denigrating Kolles' management style - and then accidentally sent it to the German, with the inference being that he was 'rested' for the race weekend as punishment and a warning not to undermine the team boss again.
