We caught up with RGR Sport team mates Bruno Senna and Filipe Albuquerque, winners this year at Silverstone and in Mexico City, and currently - with Ricardo Gonzalez - sitting second in the LMP2 drivers' championship points table.
What is the first sport you remember playing/competing in?
Bruno: “For me the first sport I was competing in was actually motor racing and I have been in a car as long as I can remember. I mean as a kid you play games and stuff, but as a real sport it was just racing in my mind.
“I was in Go-karts really, really early. I played some squash when I was about ten and played some volleyball at school, but never did anything further with them.”
Filipe: “It was a little bit of motorsport and a little bit of football.
“Actually from when I played football in school it was good for my career and my life. I remember that I got up really early once to go to play football and I was on the bench as I was really young, and we were losing 5-1. I said to the coach, ‘look, just put me on’ but he didn’t and I got so angry that I never showed up any more to any training or any game. I was just so upset with the situation and with his attitude, as it wouldn’t have cost him anything to let me play. I then decided that football was not for me and so I just focussed on karting!”
Bruno: “Good for you, now here you are in WEC.”
Filipe: “Exactly, but I still hate the coach!”
When did you first remember bring at a race track and what event was it?
Bruno: “On a Go-Kart track; that would have been a race they did on our farm and I used to drive on that around 1989 or 1990. I was super eager to race, but then my Go-Kart engine broke and I only had one. It was just fun, but I was quite disappointed about that.
“But my first time on a proper race track was Interlagos in 1993. That was the first time I went to a racetrack and, yes, it was a very famous race indeed [Bruno’s uncle, Ayrton, won one of his most famous and dramatic victories for McLaren] so it was a good race to choose. I remember eating a lot at the catering and I really enjoyed that part and of course the race too!”
Filipe: “I remember doing regional karting in the centre of Portugal, which was where I started, and going with the family and having a nice time with them, Mum, Dad and my brothers. In my first race, back in around 1993 I was so nervous. I finished P3, but still I was crying because my older brother beat me. He won the race and I was just sad and I never forgot that, it will remain in my head for the rest of my life!”
“But my older brother didn’t stay in motor racing; he had some talent, but he didn’t want to commit to waking up early or taking care of journalists like you!”
If you could have become a professional in any other sport what would it be?
Bruno: “I don’t think that I am probably any good at any other sports. I mean I enjoy other sports, but honestly when you look at the effort you need to put into being at the top level I don’t think I would have been a sportsman if it wasn’t for motor racing. It is enough effort to get to the top in this, but if you don’t have the natural talent then the work is too much for me to be at the top in other sports.”
Filipe: “I feel the same as Bruno, especially lately I am becoming very competitive when I am training. I enjoy trying many sports, but then I learnt that in theory you need 10,000 hours practising a sport when you are young. If you don’t reach that before you are 20, or whenever you become professional, then you will never become successful.
“But also you look at the physicality. In certain sports like swimming it is important to be big, to have big feet. I am a small guy and so I realise that I am right as a race driver; I fit in any formula or tiny car, so I am really tailored to be a racing driver. I guess I could have been a jockey, but my relations with horses are not the best!"
Which sports stars outside of Motorsport do you most admire?
Bruno: “Coming from a major team sport like motor racing, I quite admire major individual sports, that don’t involve machines, where it is all about you and yourself. So when you look at tennis players, or cyclists or some sort of track athletes it just blows your mind.
“I am fit, but when I go and try some of these sports you understand how far away you are from the level of a top athlete, especially cycling which is something I do quite a lot and I enjoy. The top guys are on a different planet you know. (Stéphane) Sarrazin is a fantastic cyclist, but he still isn’t there with the top guys so it shows what sort of a level these guys are at.”
Filipe: “In terms of a sportsman, the guy I admire a lot is Cristiano Ronaldo, the football player, because it is just ridiculous how many times he has won and how many records he has beaten, and he is still always hungry to win the next thing, as if it was the first time. This is a quality I really respect.
“I also admire Valentino Rossi. To be his age and still fighting with the young guns...he is still competitive and answering all his critics. In my opinion he is simply one of the best sportsmen around.
“I also admire the hard workers in the Olympic games, or a swimmer like (Michael) Phelps. They spend like 10 hours a day in the pool and I know I could never do that in my life. I think I am lucky to be in a sport where you don’t give away completely your personal life.”
Bruno & Filipe were talking to Sam Smith
