Petrov's drive at Renault unsafe?

Home » F1 Blog » July 28 2010 at 15:08 | posted by Sean Russell | What do you think? Add a comment here

Petrov to lose his seat?

Renault team boss Eric Boullier has made it clear that whilst Vitaly Petrov has not disappointed him this season, his seat at Renault for 2011 is by no means safe. It would seem that Boullier is eyeing up the possibility of recruiting ex Formula 1 world champion and WRC driver Kimi Raikkonen to replace the 25 year old Russian. At the moment the Finn has made no comment on talks with Boullier but instead seems to be very close to renewing a deal with Red Bull to race in the WRC for a second season.

The competition

Boullier is instead looking to other teams and ex-drivers for some talent and experience from the likes of Lotus’ Heikki Kovalainen and Jarno Trulli as well as Virgin’s Timo Glock, Mercedes’ test driver Nick Heidfeld and former F1 driver Christian Klien. Eric Boullier told Auto Hebdo that "some are more fantasy" but "others are realistic because there have already been talks." Renault need to play their cards right for 2011.

In Robert Kubica the team have a sturdy rock and a possible future world champion so the team need to look for someone that will compliment him well. We can not have another Webber, Vettel situation with two overly ambitious drivers fighting for the love of their team.

A driver like Trulli who has shown us throughout his career that he his consistent without being crazy would be a great addition to the team and pull in some good points whilst at all times staying out of Kubica’s way.

Kovalainen on the other hand whilst offering experience of driving for a championship winning team in McLaren does not offer the consistency or results that Renault would be expecting, in fact whilst Heikki has impressed me in how he has dealt with his car this season, he would not be much different from Petrov except Heikki may finish more races.

Petrov’s case

There is the option of retaining Petrov’s seat for the season which would not be a bad idea. Petrov has proven him self (in my eyes at least) to be worthy of a place in F1, he has been extremely unlucky not to have scored more points than he has but I expect that, whilst he may not be world champion material, by the end of this season and into next season he would be consistently scoring points for Renault and supporting Roberts talented performances whilst keeping the sponsorship and money that he brings to the Renault team.

The solution

So as we head to Hockenheim this week Petrov needs to start proving himself within the team. He has said "Qualifying is my number one priority for the weekend because we know how important it is for the outcome of the race." He needs to secure a top ten qualifying result and ultimately finish the race in the points. No one is expecting him to beat Robert Kubica who has driven remarkably this season and really made the most of an average car, but the team are expecting Petrov to be closer to Robert and bring home some points for the team.

Posted by Sean Russell - Follow him on twitter @SeanRussellF1.