Tuesday 10 March at 08:00 : Mar.10 (GMM) Bruno Senna's hopes of racing in formula one have not been dashed despite him missing out on the second seat at Brawn GP

That is the assurance of the Brazilian youngster's countryman Rubens Barrichello, who admitted on Monday that he has not spoken with his "good friend" for several months while they were both in the running for the drive

"I tried to ring him (now) and have left a message on his answering machine

"I wish him all the very best," Barrichello, whose mentor when he entered F1 in the early 90s was Senna's late uncle Ayrton, said at the Circuit de Catalunya

"For someone who has three or four years of experience, he has done fantastically well and he has a future in formula one," the 36-year-old added

Barrichello admitted one of the bitterest moments of the winter was an "absurd" report that Senna had secured a three-year deal with the team formerly known as Honda

But the veteran of 271 grands prix now insists that 25-year-old Senna, who has been linked with a move to DTM and this week tested a Le Mans prototype car, would have been fully qualified to move into F1

"I'm just lucky that at this time formula one has changed a little bit, and because of the lack of testing it is going to more experienced (drivers) again," Barrichello added