Bruno de Barros

as of 2021 WC Suzuka GP

Bruno de Barros is a Brazilian GP4 OC driver who competed for Team Penske in the 2021 World ChampCar season. He won the 2021 championship in that year before leaving the series to take another sabbatical.

## 2009: Beginning in GP2

Bruno made his debut in GP2 at the 2009 season, for Barwa Addax. It was a difficult start for the Brazilian, as he (before Italy) had a 5th place finish, at Monaco, as his best. During the season, he was involved in two first lap collisions with Sasha Banks at Nürburgring and Spa Francorchamps, and notably spun off four times during a wet Silverstone race.

The Monza race proved to be the start of something promising. Coming to the race with no expectations, Bruno qualified in 2nd, and overtook polesitter Romain Quag at the start of the race, to get 1st place and eventually win for the first time ever. And it only got better as the Brazilian won from the pole at Singapore, the following race, in what was a dominating performance.

After good recovery races at Suzuka and Abu Dhabi, Bruno came to Interlagos as one of the seven title contenders. However that race proved to be a disaster for the Brazilian. Not only he was off the pace and had to settle for 8th place, but it was found out that Bruno made a fake account to gain another spot in the championship (Christian Garcia, who was his teammate). Bruno didn't suffer any penalty, but his name was in the mud.

Bruno finished 7th, with 28 points, 2 wins and 1 pole position.

## 2010: Weak first half, better second half

Bruno joined ART Grand Prix, for the 2010 season, and was expected to win a few races. His first half of the season, however, proved to be a massive flop, with only a 3rd place at Istanbul as his highlight.

Bruno's second half proved to be much better, despite a DNF at Budapest due to a mechanical failure (it was his first ever mechanical failure DNF). For the final five races, Bruno scored a top 5 finish in all of them, including a season-best 2nd place at Spa Francorchamps and two 3rd place finishes at Monza and Suzuka.

Bruno finished 5th, with 36 points.

In the main series, Bruno was a test driver for the Williams team, appearing at three practice sessions: Canada (where he collided with Felix Sonntag), Italy and Brazil.

## 2011: Good start in GP2, frustrations and other ventures within GP4 OC

As 2011, Bruno needed a better season. Annoyed with the winless season and annoyed with ART Grand Prix, the Brazilian joined iSport International. Notably, iSport was one of the worst teams of the 2010 season.

Using a Force India-esque livery (as he was a test driver for Force India), Bruno surprised the paddock by dominating the championship in the first three rounds. The Brazilian scored poles at Istanbul and Monaco, convincingly won at Istanbul, won at Barcelona after a battle with Franco López and finished 2nd at Monaco, after losing to Franco Gamba.

At first, Gamba seemed like a friendly opponent, who had just scored his first win. But the aspect of the championship changed entirely at Silverstone, where Bruno usually has horrible races. At Nürburgring, Bruno was shoved off the track by Franco López, while battling for the lead. At Budapest, Bruno finished 2nd due to a glitch that affected Oliver Glazebrook, who was in 2nd place. As the Brit got the 2nd place back, Bruno was demoted to 3rd. As Franco Gamba was leading the championship and Bruno was wasting opportunities, the Brazilian was starting to lose his patience. He did score a 2nd place at Spa Francorchamps, also scoring the first fastest lap of his entire GP4 OC career. At Monza, however, Bruno finished 4th. The result is deceiving, since Bruno was very passive during the race and didn't seem interested, which could explain why he was so passive during that race. Afterwards, Bruno didn't know what to do, and was ready to accept defeat.

Xavier Quinlan, however, announced his GP4 OC exit after the main series' race at Monza, and was expected to be replaced by Virgin's test driver David Greenwood, who surprisingly declined the offer. Bruno de Barros took the seat, surprising some of the paddock, as he still had chances for the GP2 title. He would be replaced, at iSport, by Lorenzo Tomaselli.

Despite not competing in the final four races, Bruno would only lose 2nd place in the championship (to Vedran Vedrina). He finished 3rd, with 53 points, 2 wins, 2 poles and 1 fastest lap, his best season.

Bruno's main series debut was at Singapore, where he failed to finish. Despite the DNF, the Brazilian was happy overall: "There's no hope for this car, but I'm here to have fun. And I am (having fun)!". After another mechanical failure, this time at Suzuka, Bruno announced he would go on a sabbatical and (possibly) return in 2013. His name was in the 2012 GP2 signups, and he would have probably joined Barwa Addax, but that ended up not happening. Bruno finally finished a race, at Yeongam, finishing 18th, and was very happy about it. India proved to be a race of highs and lows, as Bruno was in 11th, at some point, but spun off. He would later retire with a loose wheel, his final DNF that season.

Abu Dhabi proved to be a interesting race for Bruno. Unwilling to do practice (and handing the car to test driver, David Greenwood), the Brazilian missed qualifying, for unknown reasons. Going in straight to the race, Bruno was gaining positions after the many DNFs during that race. The Brazilian finished in 13th, which was his best finish in the main series. The final race, at Brazil, was his last (as of the 2016 season) appearance at the main series, as he finished 19th.

Bruno finished 24th, with 0 points.

Bruno also did an one-off DTM appearance, in the season finale, at Monza. Driving a pink (much to his chagrin) Mercedes, Bruno's race lasted 6 laps, as he crashed hard at Parabolica.

With appearances at GP4OC, GP2 and DTM, Bruno became the first driver to appear in those three series during one season.

## 2012: Sabbatical... and surprise return

For most of the 2012 season, Bruno was inactive. However, Bruno randomly appeared in the chat during the DTM Silverstone race. As Flori Marku was about to leave the series, there was an open seat. After some convincing, Bruno accepted to join the series, from Nürburgring onwards, driving Marku's Audi (ironically, Bruno previously sworn he would never drive for Audi, preferring to drive for Mercedes).

Swallowing his pride, Bruno went to Nürburgring with his Audi, and was in contention to win the race, but his Audi was slammed by Xavier Quinlan's BMW, much to his annoyance. Bruno had to settle for 4th, later 3rd, with Quinlan's penalty. Spa Francorchamps was next, and Bruno was also in contention to win, but spun off at Raidillon, during the closing stages and had to settle for 4th. After a quiet 7th place at Sochi, the series went to the old Hockenheimring.

And it was there where Bruno scored his best DTM finish, a 2nd place. Despite a mediocre 17th place, at Monza, Bruno finished the season in 9th, with 21 points. Notably, Bruno was the best Audi driver in the season, despite only competing at the final five races, in what was a terrible season for the German manufacturer.

## 2013: Farewell

The 2013 season started with Bruno already pointing out that it would be his last, regardless of the result. Bruno rejoined GP2, and Barwa Addax: "It's where it all started, and will be where it all ends."

And until Nürburgring, Bruno didn't really have the most memorable of starts, and suffered the first time penalty of his GP4OC career due to a collision, at Barcelona. Nürburgring, however, after unlucky races in 2009, 2011 and 2012, became the place for Bruno's only win of the season. As of the 2016 season, it has been his last win in any of the GP4 OC categories. A 2nd place at Budapest and a 4th at Interlagos were his other highlights.

Bruno finished the GP2 season in 7th place, with 70 points, 1 win and 1 fastest lap.

Bruno also made an one-off DTM appearance at Montréal. Swapping places with Xavi Perez (who, in turn, made his GP2 debut, at Spielberg), Bruno was doing a good race with his Audi, and at a certain point, he was in 4th. However, he was hit by Eoin Carpenter, and lost pace, only finishing 11th.

## 2016: Guess who's back? Return and more frustrations

After a botched attempt to return during the 2015 GP4 FE OC season, Bruno finally returned in 2016, joining Mercedes in the GP4 FE OC.

For the two races Bruno did in FE, it was notable that he wasn't happy to rejoin there. He did explain later: "I was expecting to go back to DTM, with Mercedes. I did sign up for FE, but was only for an emergency I thought I didn't really need. Guess it will be a long season."

Much to his chagrin, Bruno competed in FE, for the first two races. Despite that, Bruno scored two impressive third place finishes at Adelaide and Macau, and after round 2, Bruno was the points leader, with 30 points.

However, in the main series, Robert Ionescu was banned after the Spanish GP (the ban was later lifted, and Robert retired), and Williams test driver Roland Mótyán replaced the Romanian. Mótyán was also a BMW Team MTEK driver in DTM. And with Mótyán's move to the main series, it left an open seat in DTM, which Bruno really wanted. And he got it.

Bruno's DTM return proved to be melancholic. Constantly off the pace, Bruno had horrible races, especially at Portimão (18th), Paul Ricard (15th) and Nürburgring (19th). He would score two 9th place finishes (Spielberg and Montréal), narrowly missing the points. However, at Silverstone, usually a racetrack where Bruno has horrible races, was the place of the only time the Brazilian finished a DTM 2016 race in the points, with a 4th place.

Hours after the Montréal race, Bruno announced he was taking a break to return in the 2017 season. According to him, the Nürburgring race was the final straw: "It was so depressing seeing myself in 19th place. That moment I realized: I shouldn't really be here! In 2012, I was the best-placed Audi driver, and in other seasons, I won some races in GP2, and now I'm fighting for the last places. That's not who I used to be.". Despite the exit, Bruno denied another retirement: "Next season I'll be better than ever before, and it doesn't matter if I go back to GP2 or stick around with DTM, 2017 will be different!"

Bruno finished his 2016 DTM season by only scoring 5 points. And as the season has come to a close, the Brazilian finished in 23rd in the standings.

## 2017: Back to GP2 four seasons later

It came as a shock to many when Bruno was announced to compete in GP2, for Campos Racing, for the 2017 season, partnering Lean Campana.

It was also a shock for Bruno himself: "I wasn't expecting this at all. I'm happy because it's a breath of fresh air, after last season. GP2 kinda feels like home, for some reason."