5. Pastor Maldonado or Bruno Senna leave Williams F1
Williams have found themselves in an unusual situation this year. They have a genuinely fast car; their first since 2005 after an absolutely terrible season in 2011. This season has undoubtedly been a success for the team, Williams have already scored more points than in 2011 and Maldonado's victory at Barcelona was the team's first since 2004. These small bits of success hide a big problem though; the car is one of the surprise packages of the year but neither Maldonado nor Senna seem to be able to make the most out of it.. The team are currently placed 8th in the World Championship with 54 points but realistically they should be battling for 6th with Sauber who are on 101 points. For a team that won 9 constructors championships 1980-1997 their current results are simply not good enough. Both Maldonado and Senna have their own problems on and off the track. Bruno is the nephew of the late three-time World Champion Ayrton Senna, but has neither the speed or the ruthlessness of his uncle to be a serious contender for the top teams. Bruno has occasionally showed glimpses of speed but he is usually behind Maldonado and one has to wonder if he had made it into Formula One if it wasn't for his namesake. Senna has always tried to distance himself from his uncle in many ways than one but the lure of having a 'Senna' back in a Williams must have been a hard concept to avoid. The sad fact is that Bruno Senna is almost too nice and polite for the Formula One circus, especially in comparison to his uncle or even his own team-mate... Pastor Maldonado is very much a 'bin it or win it' driver, he's also got a temper that needs to be controlled but he is also very, very quick. He's currently ahead of Senna in the driver standings but only by a few points. Maldonado is by far the stronger of the two drivers but seems to have the ability to constantly find himself in trouble; since his win at Barcelona (nine races to go) he has failed to finish in the points. At the Australian and European Grand Prix he was in high-points paying positions but crashed the car with only a few laps to go. He's also found himself at the mercy for his notoriously aggressive driving which has done anything but hamper his progress. So, what are Williams to do? Well they have a quick and exciting young test driver called
Valtteri Bottas who is waiting in the wings to replace either driver in 2013 (or 2012 if Maldonado gets banned). It seems most likely that Bottas will replace Senna at the end of the season as Maldonado is not only quick but also brings in valuable sponsorship from the Venezuelan government of Hugo Chavez. If the most recent Grand Prix at Singapore is anything to go by then it appears that both Maldonado and Senna are under-threat but the pressure seems to be affecting Senna more.