Technical director James Allison is looking forward to seeing Bruno Senna back in the Lotus Renault at tomorrow’s Italian Grand Prix at Monza – after forgiving him the mistake that wrecked his debut for the team.

Senna conjured up what Allison has described as “a remarkable weekend” after the Brazilian was handed the drive by the Enstone-based team ahead of Nick Heidfeld for the Belgian Grand Prix.

In a car Senna had driven once previously in practice in Hungary a few weeks earlier, he produced a superb performance in qualifying to line up seventh on the grid, three places ahead of teammate Vitaly Petrov.

However, a first corner accident when he ran into the side of Toro Rosso's Jaime Alguersuari that forced the Spaniard into retirement took the gloss off his overall display.

Senna eventually finished 13th, four places and 21 seconds behind Petrov, yet despite that, his mere presence alone has apparently lifted everyone in the team.

There was further cause for joy last week when Senna was confirmed for the race seat for the remainder of the season after Renault reached an amicable agreement with Heidfeld to step aside.

Looking back, Allison said: “I don't think anyone needs insider information from the team to know that Bruno had a remarkable weekend.

“The current regulations place a very high hurdle in the path of any driver coming in mid-season as there is no opportunity to get up to speed.

“I know Bruno was kicking himself for the incident at the first corner in the race, but my view is that it was a completely understandable error.

“It was the first time he had ever felt the car on full fuel and he was surrounded by competitors already 11 races into their season.

“His subsequent race was run at a very respectable pace, and I’m looking forward to seeing him in the car again.”