Revealed: Petrov is looking at other options

No doubt that the Renault R31 has not been as reliable or fast as the team predicted and losing Robert Kubica a month before the first race of the season, didn´t help the teams chances either.

The Lotus Renault team announced Tuesday morning that they have signed 2007 world champion Kimi Raikkonen to race in one of their cars, from 2012 known purely as Lotus, and the other seat was meant to be Petrov´s. tat´s what we have heard, and what everyone expects too. In fact, even after Petrov´s outburst after the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, that the performance of the car was not good enough and they had failed to develop the car since the start of the season, Eric Boullier, team principal of Lotus Renault, said that he had given Oksana Kosachenko, Petrov´s manager, ten days for her client to decide if he wants to keep his seat.

On paper it of course looks like the driver line-up at Lotus is set for 2012, which means Bruno Senna will most likely be retained as a test driver, Romain Grosjean is out of luck again and so are Robert Kubica. Throw in the rumours that Kubica might take one more year to recover and he will then sign with Ferrari to take over Felipe Massa´s seat, and you have yourself a right old mess.

Now it seems that even though Lotus Renault is handing out a seat to Petrov, he might go a different direction. He has been with the team for two full seasons, back in 2010 when it was Renault and now in 2011 as Lotus Renault, but my sources tells me that he are talkig to two other teams. And if we look at the official 2012 entry list, there are some good options.

Red Bull, Ferrari, McLaren-Mercedes and Mercedes are all sorted out. So are Sauber, Caterham and Marussia. That leaves the vacant seat next to Raikkonen, but also no drivers have been announced at Sahara Force India yet, even though Vijay Mallya promised to announce his drivers before the final race in Brazil last weekend.

Toro Rosso has two seats available, though Jaime Alguersuari is believed to be a good contender for one of them. Williams will most likely retaing Pastor Maldonado because he brings in a lot of money and the way the prize money from Uncle Bernie is made up, the team is facing a huge loss this year. Maldonado´s contract have been thrown into doubt by a Venezuelan congressman, who believes the sponsorship is illegal, so that focuses everyone´s attention to Rubens Barrichello, who dearly wants a 20th season.

Over at HRT, Pedro de la Rosa has been signed for two years, a smart move, but he of course needs a second driver. So eight seats available and the most likely would be either the second seat at Williams or Toro Rosso, where he would be able to make a clean start. Petrov is a proven podium finisher, and he has two full seasons behind him. Also he has recent F1 experience, meaning he will stand a better chance of getting a seat, than say, Romain Grosjean. If and when, of course, he doesn´t accept the seat at Lotus (Renault).

My money is on him for staying at Lotus Renault, but in the case of that not happening, I´d say Williams alongside Barrichello.

Petrov´s future not certain

Following the announcement that Lotus Renault have signed 2007 world champion Kimi Raikkonen as one of their drivers for the next two years, they also reveal that Vitaly Petrov´s seat is far from safe.

In fact, last week among the confusion about Robert Kubica – what did he say, what did his management say he said – Eric Boullier admitted that there are several ways to go for the team. One is to keep Robert Kubica in the team, but as test driver, while Raikkonen and Petrov concentrates on scoring the points. This scenario makes some sense, because Kubica would be able to get back into shape faster than if he had to wait outside the entire 2012, and then what? Bruno Senna could easily become their test driver instead, if Kubica is fit or if Petrov stays. And it is believed that Senna has already been told to step down from a race a seat, aknowledging that the team needs results.

Petrov have done well, especially with the material he has been presented with. But he is still not reliable enough, his performance is still too varied to be a given. That opens up for the Raikkonen – Kubica scenario, but if not Kubica, and not Petrov, then who? Romain Grosjean springs to mind…

Regardless of whoever Eric Boullier decides to sign, and he has no shortage of drivers who wants a seat, but as mentioned in the header, Petrov has now been told he has ten days to decide if he commits or not.

“After today’s decision was announced, I was given a very short amount of time, literally 10 days. We have until Dec. 10 to decide if Vitaly stays or leaves,” said Petrov´s agent, Oksana Kosachenko.

If Petrov would stay, he would learn a great deal from Raikkonen. One of the problems for Renault this year, has been the lack of a captain, Kubica, and Petrov needs someone to point him in the right direction. Raikkonen is cool and perhaps too cold in some ways, but he could be just what the doctor ordered. Asked if Petrov would pick up ideas from Raikkonen, Kosachenko said:

“You ask the question in the right way: If Vitaly stays in the team. It’s better to put it this way,” said Kosachenko, referring to Petrov’s future. “Will the management come to an agreement with the owners?

“If we do, then Vitaly should take it as a given,” she said.

 

Grosjean takes over Kubica´s seat

The headline you just read could become reality very soon, if the paddock rumours are anything to go by. But there are also the logic behind it all.

Since Robert Kubica injured himself in a rally accident in Italy early this season, and effectively taking himself out of the championship this year, the Renault team have been waiting for the good news that he would return to race for them late this season, with his full movement and dexterity of fingers, hands and other limbs. But then we heard a delay in the announcements. One doctor said he couldn´t see Kubica return anytime soon, needing at least several months just to recover fully and build up his strength again. Another doctor said the Pole was ready for action, but the only one who really knew anything, is Kubica himself.

In October it was reported that he was already driving a road car, this is perhaps not the biggest piece of news, but imagine having your hand almost completely cut off in a horrific accident, your arm is damaged too and it´s not certain that you´ll be able to move all your fingers. The stress the body receives from driving a road car is inferior compared to that of driving a F1 car, but still it´s a very promising progress for him. But to return to a F1 car is a whole different story.

Eric Boullier, the Renault team boss, is a very patient man and he has postponed the possible return several times, giving Robert the necessary time to recover fully. But he is also running a huge team, where it´s sponsors are counting on results on the race tracks, and the mechanics and personnel to receive their paycheck at the end of every month. So he started looking at options, and a few came up.

Romain Grosjean is being managed by Boullier himself and has experience in F1, though only for the latter part of the 2009 season. But though Bruno Senna and Vitaly Petrov are experienced enough, they have not been able to overcome the issues with the R31 car this year and have not been able to make a huge impression. Still, it is believed that they will continue to partner each other, although Petrov´s latest outburst on Russian TV seemed to have at least the media to focus more on Grosjean.

Robert Kubica is still there, somewhere, but if cannot return at the start of next year, then he will have to sit out 2012 as well. But there are some interesting twists and turns in all this.

For some time now, at least the past two years, Felipe ;Massa have been rumoured to be sacked by Ferrari, because he is not competitive enough, he is not fast enough, he is constantly being outperformed by Fernando Alonso….All true. But Ferrari have faith in him, at least for 2012, so the line-up is not changing. But what about 2013?

If Massa leaves Ferrari after next season and Kubica is already taking a sabbatical, then he could replace Massa at the Scuderia. It´s a long shot, I admit, but one that could happen. Especially because Luca Montezemolo, the Ferrari president, is very positive about keeping Massa, but rumours will tell you that he is looking to replace the Brazilian for 2013. So there….

But for now let´s focus on Renault. Petrov recently commented that the car was the same as they started the season with, in other words no progress, no development and as such the drivers fell behind and lost valuable points. The standings says it all, really. But you still have a Bruno Senna, who has done a reasonable job in the seven races he´s done, taking over from Heidfeld. And then we have Petrov of course, who apologized to the team for his outbursts, the team said it´s what happens let´s go forward and I really can´t see him be leaving the team.

Grosjean is still a very big question mark. But there is another aspect we need to address. Even if Renault keeps their current driver line-up, or exchanges Senna with Grosjean, Petrov will not be the captain of the two drivers. That´s how it is. On all accounts, he is still very likely to be presented with a contract extension very soon, so the real question is Senna. Competing in seven races in what we know is a very difficult car, doesn´t make everyone scream ‘world champion’ at you. But having Grosjean taking over Senna´s seat after being away for two seasons….?

The thing is that no matter what we think we know, we don´t anything at the moment. Renault are still waiting for final confirmation about Kubica, and until that happens, the decision to sign drivers for 2012 is at a stand-still.

Petrov: Sorry about that

Vitaly Petrov have apologized for his recent outburst against his team.

In an interview with Russia2 the other day, Petrov openly criticised the Renault team for their tactics and their pitstop. During the interview he said that the development of the R31 had completely stopped after just a few races, and that he and Bruno Senna were driving around in cars that needed upgrades badly. He also said that a stipulation in his contract prohibited him to say anything negative about the team, but that he had to speak out.

In the interview, he said that “when the windtunnel developments came, the new parts, because of the front exhausts, they didn’t work. We worked on the front wing, the rear wing, the diffusers, the floor – but whatever we changed it was useless.

“We have lost positions in about 10 races or even more. Even without a fast car we could have gained good points, we could have finished with points if we had had a good strategy.”

“But I couldn’t say in interviews we lost it with the pitstops and I cannot talk about that now either. But I can’t keep silent any more – it is over. I can’t keep everything inside any more.”

Through his agent, Oksana Kossatchenko, Vitaly Petrov has apologized to his team and issued a short statement on the subject.

“It was an emotional interview,” she said. “It was an exception and he apologised afterwards to the team. It will never happen again. We are really sorry and the management has discussed it with Vitaly already.”

Eric Boullier, the team principal, says that it´s all water under the bridge, and that he understands the frustration.

“Well, the interview was made minutes after Vitaly jumped out of the car last Sunday,” Boullier told the team’s official website. “The race was tough, he was upset not to have scored points, he was exhausted.

“Drivers are not robots, they’re human beings. Also, like every driver, Vitaly is a competitor. Had he been on the podium in Abu Dhabi, he would have complained about not winning the race.

“We take this incident as exactly this – an incident. Vitaly has apologised to the team and sent an email to all the staff. As far as we are concerned, the matter is closed.”

Petrov is contracted for another season at Renault.

Angry Petrov: Renault are not good enough

Russian Renault driver, Vitaly Petrov, has slammed his team in the Russian press lately, saying their progress of the R31 is not good enough.

Petrov is the first Russian born F1 driver ever and debuted last year for the Renault team. He stayed on this year, barely, and started the season with a podium and seemingly a car that had it all. But early problems with the forward mounted exhausts have halted the development progress, and, as he comments on Russian television station Rossiya 2, there has not been any progress at all since then. Trouble is, his comments might be in breach of his contract.

“For almost ten races we have had absolutely nothing (new), which, in fact, means we drive basically the same car we began the season with,” said Petrov. “Of course, the first podium (in Australia) was inspiring, for me, the whole of Russia, all the fans. But then I was just angry with everything and tried to do something. Unfortunately, I can’t say anything bad about the team, it is written down in my contract.”

That contract is believed to include a clause which prohibits Petrov to speak about the development progress in any way, shape or form and that could cost him the race seat for 2012, if and indeed when a contract renewal were to be presented to him.

“Read my interviews, I don’t criticise a team that lost many times. How much have we lost on pitstops? How much have we lost on tactics?

“Due to that kind of thing we lost, I can say, about ten races, if not more. Unfortunately, I couldn’t say in an interview that we lost due to poor pitstops once again, or something. I still can’t speak about it, but on the same side I also can’t remain silent, I’ve had enough of it, I can’t keep everything inside.”

Petrov goes on to comment on his own contract, aknowledging that though his name is on a piece of paper, this could change very quickly.

“This is Formula One, it’s business,” he admitted. “Gradually, they’re just working to get more -– maybe the price, maybe the sponsors, maybe the drivers around them.

“Look at the queue of drivers at Williams — I believe there are 20 people eager to take the second place there. Thank god I’m not in it. As for me, I think it is quite clear — I have a contract. But as I said before, even the world champion Kimi Raikkonen was asked (by Ferrari) to leave Formula One for a certain amount.

“It’s a world where everything is possible, it will be hard to oppose if they want to remove someone.”

Petrov penalised for Schumacher crash

Renaut´s Russian driver, Vitaly Petrov, have been penalised for his oncolvement in the crash with Michael Schumacher during the Korean Grand Prix on Sunday.

Schumacher came towards turn 4, with Petrov hot in pursuit, and Fernando Alonso on the outside, when the Renault driver braked too late, smashing right into the back of Schumacher´s Mercedes, as Alonso narrowly avoided being involved. A broken frontwing for Petrov and a broken rearwing for Schumacher. Unfortunately, neither driver was able to continue the race and retired.

After the race, Petrov accepted the full responsibility for the crash, apologizing to Schumacher, who said it´s one of the things that happens during a race.

“I tried to defend my position from Fernando but I was in the braking zone on the dirty side of the track which meant I locked my wheels and hit Michael,” said Petrov. “I was focused on my battle with Fernando as there was potential for me to be ahead of him.”

“We both braked too late as he missed the corner too. Up until that point I was happy with our strategy and how the race was going.”

“I apologise to Michael, it was not his fault, it was absolutely my fault – once my wheels were locked there was nothing I could do about it. But that’s racing and tomorrow is another day.”

Petrov received a five grid penalty for the next race in India in two weeks time.

Petrov ready for Montreal

Only a week has passed since Vitaly Petrov crashed his Renault R31 in Monaco, but the Russian driver says eh is feeling on top of his game, and is ready for the challenge in Montreal this weekend.

“Physically I’m feeling fine with no problems,” Petrov confirmed. “I’m feeling better than I was after the race in Monaco. My ankle is fine and I don’t see any problems for the race here in Canada.”

He was running high in the points when Adrian Sutil´s brush with the barrier, sent a ripple effect to the followers behind him. Petrov got caught in the middle and had nowhere to go but straight into the wall.

“We could have finished third or fourth in Monaco I think. Third would have been a real push but fourth was not beyond possibility, because my pace was not bad and I managed to save the tyres. I had some bad luck and there was a lot of traffic in front of me. Pastor (Maldonado) and Adrian (Sutil) were both slow, and it was very difficult to overtake them.

“Everything else on the day was going to plan, so it’s just a shame we could not have had more success with the final result. Up until the incident, things were going really well, fantastically well in fact given what our qualifying positions were beforehand.”

The driver was unhappy with not scoring any points in Monaco, but is adamant that the team and himself will do everything they can to improve in Canada.

“Above all, we must get to the finish line and score some good points because we know we can do it,” he continued. “We are well aware that our car is very quick so we need to minimise our mistakes and the results will come.

Quick-Nick out?

While Lotus are in the process of telling everyone that the tie-in with Renault is stronger than ever, rumours are circulating that the team is looking for a replacement for Nick Heidfeld. Bad form is mentioned as the reason.

Nick Heidfeld, himself a replacement for the injured Robert Kubica, is reported as close to getting a pink slip form Lotus Renault. His performance is below par, says the rumour and team boss Eric Boullier is perhaps looking at Romain Grosjean as Heidfeld´s replacement.

Frenchman Grosjean had a bad start to his F1 debut season, as he suddenly found himself replacing Nelson Piquet, after the Singapore Scandal started to roll. Team boss Eric Boullier is managing Grosjean, and it is believed that there is a rift between Boullier and the management of Kubica. All very confusing.

So far Nick Heidfeld is sixth in the drivers standings, with a total of 29 points, and Vitaly Petrov is ninth with 21 points.