Vitaly Petrov

Vitaly Petrov started racing when he was 17 unlike most top drivers he started racing late and not in go-karts, but Lada cars. In 2002 when racing in the Lada Cup he dominated the championship, winning all rounds and amassing the maximum points possible of 500.

So the talent was there.

In 2003, Petrov began racing in Formula Renault, racing in the Italian Championship for Euronova Racing, finishing 19th overall. He also competed in some rounds of the Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0.He also finished fourth in the British Formula Renault Winter Series at the end of the year, taking one win.He also made his debut in Euro Formula 3000 at Cagliari.

Not a great first sseason in single seaters.

However in 2006 he had a more promising year. He raced in Euroseries 3000 with Euronova Racing. He finished third in the standings, scoring nine podiums in eighteen races including four wins at Hungaroring, Mugello Circuit, Silverstone Circuit and Circuit de Catalunya.Also he participated in the Brno round of the 2006 F3000 International Masters season, where he took a pole position.

After that, he had inconsistent seasons in GP2, racing there for 3 years, he came good in 2009
and finished as runner-up to the dominant Nico Hülkenberg in the championship, winning twice at Istanbul Parkand Valencia Street Circuit.

He then made his debut in Formula 1 for Renault, he had the "pay driver" tag over him, in his first two races he looked good for solid points, but had DNF's for various reasons. In the 2010 season he was inconsistent just like the most of his career, he showed flashes of brilliance, but made a lot of crucial errors. His career seemed to have gone, but managed to put in a strong performance in the last race. Some may say that it was that performance that saved his seat, others may say it was because of the sponsorship he brought.

The 2011 seems to be a more consistent season for him and seems to have dropped the "pay driver" tag, putting in a blinding race in Australia getting his first podium in Formula 1. He has had a lot of strong performances this season, his qualifying has been his main asset.

I find Petrov an exciting driver, I had liked him 2010 but I had major doubts over him as he seemed to have a very poor 2010 season and thought that the sponsorship kept him his seat. However, I have changed my opinion in 2011, he seems like a racer, he's got balls, he's quick in qualifying and is proving to be consistent. For me, the most improved driver on the grid from 2010.

What do you guys think about Vitaly Petrov?

 

[RasputinLives]

Lets face it - he's in because he has backing and Bernie needs a Russian driver in the sport so that Russia has an interest so that he can get his nice sum of cash for making sure for we head to Moscow for the Russian Grand Prix in 2014.

I would not be surprised if Bernie is already pointing sponsors and teams in the direction of any young Russian driver than may be up and coming as its obvious Petrov was not his man to break the market

 

[Bushi]

That might be true, but i rather see Petrov than powersteer Trulli. However there were drivers that deserved a second chance instead of Petrov's third chance. Like chandock wasn't bad at all in his debute and d'Ambrosio also deserves a second chance.

On the other hand, Pedro de la comeback should give the young guns a chance.

 

[Bill Boddy]

.... Wouldn't F1 be better if there were lots of young guns getting drives than a sea of journey men making up the last 80% of the grid?

Surely the measure of who should be driving should not be settled by age but by who can do the best job for the team. Just because someone is young it does not make him better.

The majority of those young guns will be journeymen themselves in ten years time.

 

[FB]

And then they should clear off and let someone new take over. I agree it's not about age it should be about ability but, seriously, is Vitaly Petrov the best driver Caterham could pick to pedal their car?

 

[Bill Boddy]

.... is Vitaly Petrov the best driver Caterham could pick to pedal their car?

It could be argued that if Petrov's millions improve the car by say a second a lap then he is the best driver for it. Even if he is half a second slower than a younger driver with no money.

 

[Galahad]

The other side of the argument is that a team with a pay driver who can't consistently finish races may end up costing themselves the same amount of money, or more, in lost constructors' championship revenue (see Kazuki Nakajima).

Not such a big issue for Caterham possibly, particularly if they end up "fighting" over 10th place again.

 

[teabagyokel]

The other side of the argument is that a team with a pay driver who can't consistently finish races may end up costing themselves the same amount of money, or more, in lost constructors' championship revenue (see Kazuki Nakajima).

And, of course, in putting the car that their pay driver has inconsiderately slammed into the armco back together. Renault had some of these issues with Petrov in 2010, although of course not so much in 2011.

 

[landogeorgelewis1]

When was the last time Trulli showed any sort of form?

For me Caterham have taken the decision to freshen things up at the team and if they'd sacked Kovalainen then they'd have been critised to hell and for me Petrov is probably the best possibly candidate at this late stage in the proceedings. Lets not judge him now and wait until the end of the season to give our review of how he's done.

 

[Slyboogy]

Buemi is a much better option!

 

[landogeorgelewis1]

Buemi is a much better option!

True, but i don't think he was on Caterhams wish list.

 

[Slyboogy]

True, but i don't think he was on Caterhams wish list.

He was...but he didn't have the "money! Money! money! To Caterham, it's all about the price taaaag! They want to make Petrov dance!"

 

[landogeorgelewis1]

He was...but he didn't have the "money! Money! money! To Caterham, it's all about the price taaaag! They want to make Petrov dance!"

Oh from me. TBH I really haven't followed this one closely so i'm wrong on my last comment.

But i stand by my comment, lets not judge Petrov now judge his performance at the end of the season.

 

[Slyboogy]

Well there were rumours, but look who got the third seat and who replaced Trulli when there where several other good drivers out there.

Don't get me wrong. I like Petrov and I think it's good he's on the grid, as he is aggressive, fast and exciting to watch.

Plus I was just joshing around with the last comment

 

[racecub]

I think Petrov did well in the Renault, he was on a steep learning curve. He's not been around long. Big improvement for Caterham and big chance for Petrov to prove himself.

 

[teabagyokel]

Petrov has now driven for Lotus and Lotus, but never for Lotus.

 

[sportsman]

Petrov has now driven for Lotus and Lotus, but never for Lotus.

I do not understand this comment.Last season Petrov drove for Lotus Renault.This season he is driving for Caterham.

 

[teabagyokel]

I do not understand this comment.Last season Petrov drove for Lotus Renault.This season he is driving for Caterham.

I'm saying he's driven for both (former) claimants to the Lotus name, but not actually at any point for Lotus. If you take it literally, it doesn't actually make sense.

 

[RasputinLives]

This whole Petrov situation just makes me feel more sorry for Jerome D'ambrosio if I'm honest

 

[ExtremeNinja]

I don't think he's floundered, he's done a workman like job but that's it. Wouldn't F1 be better if there were lots of young guns getting drives than a sea of journey men making up the last 80% of the grid?

We would have a grid full of drivers with no experience. It would be like the quickest demolition derby on the planet. Think about Spa 2009 when we had rookies taking out Lewis and Jenson on the first lap, as well as themselves, and just through poor driving and inexperience. Some drivers will take longer to get to their potential but ultimately be more valuable than someone who comes along and blitzes his first season and then trails off.

There is a good feed of fresh blood into Formula 1. See if you can count the number of drivers who have had their debut drive in the last 5 years. You might be surprised as to how many there have been.

I don't really buy the pay driver thing either. when I was a kid, my family would never have been able to afford to go karting. Who knows, I may have turned out to be the next Fangio. Oh hang-on, that's Vettel. But then, hang on again, he could afford to go karting as a kid.

Incidentally, I still see Petrov as a young gun. He's not slow, he's a good racer and like everyone else up and down the grid makes the odd mistake. Give him Seb's Red Bull and we might have had a Russian champion. Then again, we might not.

 

[RasputinLives]

When I saw this: http://www.gpupdate.net/en/f1-news/...gpupdate&utm_medium=twitter&utm_campaign=news

I thought the boost Russian Helicopters were giving Petrov was attaching rotar blades to his Caterham but sadly not.

It does look as though that deal mean Vitaly firmly has his feet under the table though and as I can't see them getting rid of Kovi by choice it looks like once again its going to be a pretty stable line-up for the Caterham boys.