Petrov loses his Formula 1 spot

06.12, 16:36

Lotus Renault have reportedly selected a second driver for next season, which means the days of Russia’s only Formula One representative, Vitaly Petrov, in the British team, are numbered.

29.11, 14:17

Russia’s Formula One driver Vitaly Petrov’s manager Oksana Kosachenko is heading to Lotus-Renault headquarters in the UK on Tuesday evening to hold talks over Petrov’s future with the team.

27.11, 16:02

Formula One’s Lotus-Renault boss Eric Boullier has stated his team will make a decision on its 2012 driver line-up within the fortnight.

17.11, 18:31

Vitaly Petrov’s communication with the media will be limited after the first Russian in F1 said in an interview that he has had enough of his Lotus Renault team putting all the blame for poor results on the drivers.

27.03, 13:04

Vitaly Petrov has become the first ever Russian to ascend the Formula 1 podium after finishing third at the season-opening Australian Grand Prix.

Published: 09 December, 2011, 13:04
Edited: 09 December, 2011, 20:05

Russian racing driver, Vitaly Petrov. (Reuters / Caren Firouz)

TAGS: Formula 1, Petrov, Motorsports

Russia’s first-ever Formula 1 driver, Vitaly Petrov, won’t be racing for Lotus Renault next season after the team officially confirmed Romain Grosjean as Kimi Raikkonen’s partner for 2012.

­Petrov is forced out of the team, despite having a contract until the end of 2012.

Grosjean, the reigning GP2 series champion, has made two appearances for Lotus Renualt this season, racing in Friday’s sessions in Abu Dhabi and Brazil.

The Frenchman is a client of Gravity Management company, which is headed by none other than Lotus Renault team principal, Eric Boullier.

The 25-year-old driver has also received strong financial backing from French oil company Total and the car manufacturer, Renault.    

“I’m delighted that Romain Grosjean will partner Kimi next year,” Eric Boullier told his team’s official website. “Romain has shown a lot of maturity in the past 12 months both through his GP2 Series victory and his development as a third driver with us.”

“I would like to thank Vitaly Petrov and Bruno Senna for their contribution to the team’s performance this year and I wish them all the best for the future,” he added.

Vitaly Petrov has been with Lotus Renault since the start of the 2010 season, grabbing 64 career points and mounting the podium after a third-place finish at this year’s Australian GP.

“First of all, I’d like to thank all our partners and fans for the support Vitaly received during those two seasons,” Oksana Kosachenko, Petrov’s manager, told Sportbox.ru. “I stress that we have an excellent relationship with the Lotus Renault team, and together with them we have now come up with another program for Vitaly. We’ll announce it before the New Year. So it's not the end of Petrov's career, but his transition into a new phase.”

Earlier reports sent 27-year-old Petrov to lowly Marussia Virgin, but the Russian team has already announced their drivers’ list for the next season.

08.12, 12:35

Formula 1’s governing body, the FIA, has confirmed an unchanged 20-race calendar for the next season, despite lingering doubts over the GPs in Bahrain and the United States.

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Petrov tired of being Lotus Renault scapegoat

13.11, 20:05

Lewis Hamilton was the first to see the checkered flag at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, while Formula One world champion Sebastian Vettel retired on the first lap.

01.11, 15:30

The maiden Russian Grand Prix, scheduled to take place in Sochi in 2014, won’t gather enough audience, says Oksana Kosachenko, manager of Russia’s only Formula 1 driver Vitaly Petrov.

15.09, 19:39

Russia’s sole Formula One representative, Vitaly Petrov, was among the most notable guests at the Moscow Jet Expo 2011. RT caught up with the Lotus-Renault driver to get the latest news from the stable.

27.03, 13:04

Vitaly Petrov has become the first ever Russian to ascend the Formula 1 podium after finishing third at the season-opening Australian Grand Prix.

Published: 17 November, 2011, 18:31

Lotus Renault GP's Russian driver Vitaly Petrov (AFP Photo / Dimitar Dilkoff)

TAGS: Scandal, Formula 1, Petrov

Vitaly Petrov’s communication with the media will be limited after the first Russian in F1 said in an interview that he has had enough of his Lotus Renault team putting all the blame for poor results on the drivers.

­Lotus Renault, who started the season with Petrov’s podium in Australia, now find themselves struggling for places in the Top 10. And the Russian says he keeps questioning his team about this downfall.

“We looked very strong during the first five or six races of the season,” he told Rossiya 2 channel. “We couldn’t compete with Ferrari, Red Bull or McLaren, but we were a lot faster than Mercedes.”

But then, according to Petrov, there were no improvements in his racing car because all the new parts just didn’t fit, while all of his rivals were moving forward.

“For the last ten races we’ve had nothing,” the 27-year-old stressed. “We’re driving practically the same car as at the beginning of the season.”

Petrov says the Lotus Renault team should acknowledge they weren’t at their best for many of this year’s races.

“Read my interviews, I never criticize the team, which lost so much on pit-stops and tactics,” he noted. “We’ve lost ten or more races because of this. Even without having a fast car, we still could’ve earned good points if we only had a good strategy.”

“I couldn’t say in the interviews that we lost because of the pits. I still can’t speak about it now, but I just can’t keep silent anymore,” the driver added.

Despite being quite slow in the track, Lotus Renault wasted no time in reacting to Petrov’s words as the Russian’s communication with the media is going to be limited from now on.

“This year both sides pitched it strong – from time to time the team wasn’t speaking flatteringly of their drivers, and this time Vitaly also crossed the line in his last television interview with Rossiya 2. I have to admit it," Oksana Kosachenko, Petrov’s mamager, told RIA-Novosti news agency. "Some steps on the matter have already been taken. The team’s management decided to limit Vitaly Petrov’s communication with the media."

Petrov, who last finished in points three races ago in Japan, currently sits ninth in the drivers’ championship, with 39 points in the bag.

13.11, 20:05

Lewis Hamilton was the first to see the checkered flag at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, while Formula One world champion Sebastian Vettel retired on the first lap.

View the original article here