Formula 1: Russian premier Vladimir Putin supporting Vitaly Petrov
Russian driver Vitaly Petrov recently signed a two-year contract confirming his stay at Lotus Renault GP until the end of 2012.
The team was considering other options after an inconsistent debut season in 2010 by the Russian driver while Robert Kubica was confirmed for another season by the team several weeks ago.
Group Lotus recently decided to depart from Team Lotus after a clash and became Renault’s partners instead. As a result, RenaultF1 changed its name to Lotus Renault GP.
Shortly after this development, Vitaly Petrov held a press conference in which he revealed his deal with Renault alongside one of the most talented Formula 1 drivers of 2010, Robert Kubica.
Since the International Automobile Federation (FIA) announced its interest in holding a Russian Grand Prix in the next few years, Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin has been supporting Formula 1 and his country’s only driver in the sport as well.
“Petrov, who is very famous among Formula One fans here, has recently signed a new two-year contract with his team. He definitely needs support. Financial support most of all. The number of automobile sport lovers in Russia increases day by day,” said Putin.
Petrov brought state-run car company Lada as a team sponsor for the 2011 Formula 1 season and his management also secured a deal with the state-owned technology company Rostekhnologii.
Many believe that the reason behind this crucial deal was his outstanding performance at the 2010 grand finale in Abu Dhabi where he held Fernando Alonso behind him for over 40 laps. This is a big achievement since former world champion Alonso is one of
the most aggressive drivers in the sport.
It is expected that there will be two Lotus teams on the grid in 2011 and would be interesting to see how both of them compete against each other.
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