Haug: Senna wanted F1 promise

The Brazilian tested a Mercedes C-Class back in March after he lost out on the second Brawn GP drive to Rubens Barrichello. He had been tipped to join the DTM instead but Mercedes last week confirmed that he would not be part of it's line-up.

Haug says he had spoken to both McLaren and Brawn about future F1 possibilities, but Senna declined and so far his only racing commitment this season is in the Le Mans 24 Hours with ORECA.

"We discussed it and he wanted to have a firm commitment to get into F1," Haug told AUTOSPORT. "I spoke to Ross [Brawn] and Martin [Whitmarsh] and we said 'yes, we can develop options, but we cannot guarantee it 100 per cent.

"The background is we tried it but if you want to jump into it you need to be hot, you need to dream day and night of it and maybe he did not dream day and night of it. But it is fair enough, that is okay."

Haug insists that he accepts Senna's desire to secure an F1 deal, and did not rule out working with him in the future.

"I fully respect his position but I do hope in half a year's time he says, oh I should have done it," said Haug. "But if we can still find a solution, and if after first practice in Hockenheim an F1 boss would have phoned to say you can drive my car, he would have been free to step out.

"But I do not want to argue. Bruno is a good guy, a very flamboyant and good guy, he just chose a different path.

"If a young guy doesn't dream of F1, he should not come to us. I would have a problem if Paul di Resta came to us and said 'Norbert, F1 never, I would like to have a roof on my head'. I would say go to the doctors and get checked because it is quite normal that you dream of the top class."