Renault: No points for third time in six races

2011 Korean GP team review

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Renault’s poor second half of the season continued with another no-score in Korea.

Bruno SennaVitaly Petrov
Qualifying position158
Qualifying time comparison (Q2)1’38.791 (+0.605)1’38.186
Race position13
Laps54/5516/55
Pit stops21

Renault drivers’ lap times throughout the race (in seconds):

https://www.racefans.net/charts/2011drivercolours.csv

12345678910111213141516171819202122232425262728293031323334353637383940414243444546474849505152535455
Bruno Senna119.23110.296108.545107.34107.399107.357107.224107.418107.298106.783106.909108.059110.511122.822105.248115.258135.55114.336154.986151.604106.918107.273106.813105.295104.131104.402104.558104.746104.579109.263121.82103.54103.452103.641104.335103.759103.336103.801102.876102.755102.549102.872102.669102.66103.114103.173103.104105.752104.466106.726104.883104.647108.524107.842
Vitaly Petrov113.356107.783107.111106.42106.064106.801106.043105.694105.642105.469105.612105.992105.816110.041123.804161.649

Bruno Senna

Start tyreSoft
Pit stop 1Soft 21.163s
Pit stop 2Super soft 21.893s

Senna felt held back by a lack of track time in Korea and qualified 15th, seven places behind Petrov: “The car was fine, I probably didn’t have sufficient mileage to push when it mattered on my qualifying run.”

It didn’t get any better in the race as he got away slowly from the line and slipped to 19th. He took one place back from Heikki Kovalainen on lap four.

He had difficulty making up places in traffic, passing Kamui Kobayashi’s wounded Sauber at turn one on lap 24, only to be re-passed in the DRS zone. Senna retaliated with a bold pass at turn four to finally claim the position.

He ran a long, 25-lap final stint on super soft tyres and by lap 47 he was losing a lot of time. Rubens Barrichello passed him three laps later and Senna brought his Renault home in 13th.

Bruno Senna 2011 form guide

Vitaly Petrov

Vitaly Petrov, Renault, Korea, 2011
Start tyreSuper soft
Pit stop 1Super soft 21.478s

Petrov got his Renault into Q3 and started eighth. He did two qualifying runs on the tyres he started the race on but it proved not to be a problem – he made his first pit stop after several other drivers on lap 14.

Fernando Alonso came out of the pits in front of him on lap 15, and the next time by Petrov attacked the Ferrari driver using his DRS.

But he missed his braking point for turn three and smashed into Michael Schumacher’s Mercedes.

Petrov apologised for the collision and the stewards handed him a five-place grid penalty for the next race.

Vitaly Petrov 2011 form guide

2011 Korean Grand Prix

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    Image © Renault/LAT

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    Keith Collantine
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    17 comments on “Renault: No points for third time in six races”

    1. I thought Senna’s move on Kobayashi was really good. Shame to see him struggling otherwise. I like him, and honestly think he he has decent potential.

      1. Apart from this weekend he has been bang on the pace ever since setting his feet on the pedals in that Renault. So I agree, he has potential.

        1. ‘bang on the pace’… of Petrov: one of F1’s most unproven ‘talents’. Not saying much!

          Petrov isn’t fast enough to be in F1. Last year he was around a second a lap slower than Kubica. He only has that drive because of his money. Sadly the same is true of Senna.

          Renault’s driver line-up is an embarrassment for what was, until recently, a title challenging team. Stick a truly talented young driver (like Di Resta or Perez) in that car and I believe Renault could have challenged Mercedes in the constructors.

    2. Petrov was racing rather well before he crashed into Schumacher. Senna was poor however, both in qualifying and the race. I personally don’t think he has done as well as others have said.

      1. I was just going to write the same @slr as that first line of yours. Not sure I agree with the third though.

      2. I was wondering if Alonso deliberately missed his braking point in order to seduce Petrov to outbrake himself too, so he would smash into the cars in front of them. But maybe that’s too funny to be true.

        1. That would be fitting retribution for Abu Dhabi 2010!

      3. This was a really bad weekend for Senna indeed, but I still believe he is a fine driver and I wish he’ll race next season. Its funny though that after the first real poor showing by him the team suddenly chamges Kubicas deadline. After mobbing and firing Heidfeld I kind of get the impression that its not the nicest place to work at.

        1. I kind of get the impression that its not the nicest place to work at.

          I’ve always had the same feeling.

    3. Not a good performance by either driver. I don’t think Kubica will be back next year – so these two need to up their game to fend off Grosjean!

      1. Although it would be too harsh to write Senna off at the first poor weekend, I suspect Grosjean is better than Senna.

        1. Grosjean had his chance a couple of years ago replacing Piquet but had a poor performance then. I believe that they should keep this line up and focus on delivering a better car next year.

    4. It was a poor show from Renault this weekend.

      Senna looks decent enough, he definitely needs more time in the car though, it’s not easy coming in this late in the season. He’s done a solid enough job so far, but needs to improve quickly from here to keep his place for next year.

    5. Bit of a disaster from Petrov but I can sympathise. Alonso could at least take to the run-off. You could argue that perhaps Alonso and Petrov should have been more aware of their surroundings.

    6. I dont get this done a good job. He’s scored in 1 race since taking over for Hiedfeld. Petrov after 5 races finally out pointed hiedfeld. To me renault is a dismal failure Kubica or not. They went backwards after releasing Hiedfeld from the team. Petrov has proved he cant get out of his own way. Senna may prove to be better only time will tell. Hiedfeld was released for the money only. I’m hoping Force India can over take renault for 5th in constructors championship. Stupid move on there part.

    7. Renault better start woring on 2012 car as this season they are hopeless just like Willams.

    8. Renault is going down. Poor car development, very poor drivers performance. No Alonso, no Kubica = going down…
      Renault needs a top driver, Petrov and Senna are good for HRT testing.

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