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?
 
Like you I had my doubts but I think he's in for the long term. He has learned and improved a lot from 2010. His podium this year was a well deserved one in my opinion.
Not sure if he'll ever be a world champion, but if he keeps improving like he is then I can see him in a top team in a few years.
 
I like Petrov, he has something more important for me than experience, spirit and guts

Like Lewis he comes with a new F1 audience and represents and carries more expectation than say an Italian driver. He has trailblazer responsibilities on his young shoulders

I particularly loved the way he handled the attempted bullying from Alonso at Abu Dhabi 2010

Now that he is the senior team member at Genii, it's will be interesting to see how it plays out with Senna
 
I'm going to be controversial here and say that Personally I thought the Abu Dhabi race by Petrov was nothing special. He drove consistently, that should be expected. I think he was highly rated in this race simply because the camera's were turned on him due to Alonso. Doesn't mean he drove exceptionally and he didn't really need to drive defensively as there was nowhere really for Alonso to overtake.
I'd like to say that he is the most improved driver, certainly his consistancy has improved but I still would expect that if kubica was here we wouldn't be talking about his performances.
Just my opinion.
 
I'm going to be controversial here and say that Personally I thought the Abu Dhabi race by Petrov was nothing special. He drove consistently, that should be expected. I think he was highly rated in this race simply because the camera's were turned on him due to Alonso. Doesn't mean he drove exceptionally and he didn't really need to drive defensively as there was nowhere really for Alonso to overtake.
I'd like to say that he is the most improved driver, certainly his consistancy has improved but I still would expect that if kubica was here we wouldn't be talking about his performances.
Just my opinion.

I respect your opinion, but he had a great weekend. He out-qualifed Kubica in a track that he hasn't raced in before, he probably would have beat Kubica since he went to a one stopper straight-away and finished a few seconds behind his highly-rated team-mate.

It may have been over-rated because of the "defending" aspect, but it was a great weekend for him.
 
I am talking about Alonso trying to intimidate him by waving a limp fist after the race, Vitaly reacted by swerving and Alonso backed off

Since then Al was polite on track around Vitaly
 
Petrov Has spoken out against his Team. Autosport seems to over-react a little perhaps but petrov is not happy with the stiuation at the Team.

He has critized the devlopments on the car, The Rate of Developments on the Car and the Stratergy.

It seems in terms of the car he is saying what we all know. The strategy is a contentious point though, Don't think that will go down well with Renault.

He his certainly not happy though and with recent performance i can see why. Wonder if he has played himself out of a drive though. 29 into 2 don't go and with Kubica, Senna, Grojean all the other devlopment driers and some wild rumors about Sutil and Barrichello its a risky move.

Maybe he hoping for another drive?? Just voicing frustrations?

The bit at the end of the article is intresting though I wonder if its a ploy to get his team to show him more support. Autosport may have over-egged it but i think it has the potential to blow up in his face.

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/96306
 
That is some interview :o makes me think he is out for next year.

He certainly has a point though, everything he says is true. Renault really do seem to have dropped the ball this year.
 
Nice to hear someone speaking their mind. Petrov's a good guy and a good racer, too, I think we should tend to ignore the fact that he's lucky enough to have a big sponsor behind him.

I do, however, predict that Petrov will soon be forced to make a statement saying it was "mistranslated".. I would've thought his money was rather valuable for this current iteration of "Renault"..:whistle:
 
It does sound like he thinks he's being bought out doesn't he? But I can't see them keeping Senna either so not sure what that means.

There were rumours of Glock having a clause in his contract if 'Renault' came in for him but seems an odd one.
 
That's what I was trying to say in the Bruno Senna thread, the Renault's just been bad this season.

If Petrov's voicing his frustrations, I think he's on his way out of Renault. His two key quotes for me are, "Unfortunately I cannot say anything bad about the team, it says so in my contract." And "It's hard to do anything in this world if someone wants you to be removed."

If he's knowingly breaking the conditions of his contract he must have accepted that the contract won't last for much longer. Renault have quite a few options for next season, but Petrov doesn't if he leaves. I think he'd take a year out then possibly join Marussia in 2013.
 
Thought it might. I think the damage is done for Vitaly though - You can only get away with having a go at your team if you're bringing home the bacon for them and unfourtunatly Mr Petrov hasn't been.

With all the stuff with Heidfeld earlier in the year 'Renault' are not a happy team and have had a pretty awful year it has to be said after a promising start. 3 points since Spa? thats bad for them.

Hopefully they'll get a fresh start for 2012 as Lotus
 
It doesn't sound like a happy ship, does it? Lots of comings and goings in the engineering department this season.

I'm not sure that they can afford to let him go, in truth. Is Russia an important market for Lotus?

It'll be very interesting to hear Boullier's reaction, this is a test for him.
 
Now the grovelling...

"You may have read some negative comments from me on the internet this morning."

"In an interview given to Russian TV straight after the race in Abu Dhabi, I expressed myself in an inappropriate manner; I criticised the team, your work and our lack of performance. This was unnecessary and I wish to apologise.

"I'm not trying to seek excuses, but I was still high on adrenalin from the race, I was exhausted and, just like you, I was very disappointed not to have made it into the top 10. I realise that the season is as tough for you all as it is for me, and I should not have said what I said.

"Once again, I would like to apologise sincerely and promise you that this will not happen again. We've all pushed as much as we could this season and I have one last opportunity to try and make you proud in Brazil next weekend. I will do my utmost to present myself in a better light there than I have today."
 
How come this news just came out?

The race was several days ago, in the F1 world you would expect it to come out the day after the race!
 
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