Vitaly Petrov confirms his seat with Lotus Renault GP until 2012
The Russian driver who changed the face of the 2010’s grand finale at Yas Marina Circuit in Abu Dhabi, Vitaly Petrov finally confirmed at a press conference that he has officially been confirmed with Lotus Renault GP until 2012. The young driver began his
journey in the sport this year but was not able to prove his abilities at their best.
His teammate Robert Kubica on the other hand, gave an exceptional performance in a Renault that was nowhere near the pace of the top running cars in the sport. Robert finished in 8th place just 6 points behind Team Mercedes’ Nico Rosberg. The
Polish driver was able to score 3 podium positions this season and as a result Renault confirmed that Kubica will drive for Lotus Renault GP for another 2 years.
It seems that Renault will be back with the same drivers’ line-up for the 2011 Formula 1 season since Vitaly confirmed his deal with the team. Petrov literally handed Sebastian Vettel the 2010 Formula 1 championship as he was able to hold Fernando Alonso
behind for almost 40 laps at the grand finale disabling the Spaniard to secure enough points to maintain his drivers’ standings lead.
However, Lotus Renault GP is delighted to have Vitaly for another year and since Group Lotus is going to work alongside Renault, they believe that the 2011 season is going to be epic for the team.
“We're delighted to have Vitaly on board for another two years. Last season, he showed on several occasions that he clearly has the potential to deliver. It was just a matter of putting everything together during the same weekend, race after race, and this
will be his target for 2011,” according to Gerard Lopez from Group Lotus.
Since the Russian Grand Prix is expected to take place in the near future as well, the team believes that having a Russian driver by their side would help the team promotionally. Eric Boullier, Renault’s team principal is expecting good results next season
and he hopes that Vitaly Petrov narrows the gap between himself and Robert Kubica.
“We are very pleased to confirm that Vitaly will be staying with us for 2011 and 2012, in order that both he and the team can build on a promising 2010 campaign,” said the team principal.
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