Petrov started 2011 on the podium, but ended up being dropped
Born: 8th September 1974
Birthplace: Vyborg, Russia
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Career stats
Vitaly Petrov was the first Russian driver to compete in Formula 1.
He started racing in his homeland and won championships in Lada saloon cars before shifting the focus of his career to Europe.
Petrov entered the F3000 Euroseries and finished third overall in 2006, winning once. The following year he moved up to GP2, driving the second half of the season with DAMS.
The Russian joined Campos for 2008 and had his best season the following year. Team mate Romain Grosjean began the year strongly but Petrov asserted himself and took the lead in the championship before Grosjean was called up to replace Nelson Piquet Jnr at Renault in F1.
While Grosjean struggled to get to grips with F1, Petrov finished runner-up in GP2 to Nico Hulkenberg – a pair of wins and consistent points-scoring keeping him ahead of Lucas di Grassi.
Renault
2010
Grosjean was not retained by Renault at the end of 2009 and Petrov was promoted in his place, joining Robert Kubica at the team.
Petrov was rarely on Kubica’s pace in qualifying, but he did beat him to the top ten on the grid in the final race of the season.
The spotlight fell on him during the race as he successfully kept Fernando Alonso behind for 39 laps as the Ferrari driver’s championship chances collapsed.
2011
After the season finished Renault renewed his contract for another two years. Kubica was injured in a rally accident ahead of the 2011 season but Petrov brought the team some cheer by finishing on the podium first time out in Melbourne.
But as the season went on the team struggled to develop the R31 with its unconventional sidepod-mounted exhausts. Petrov publicly criticised the team’s lack of progress late in the year.
He was not retained for 2012 as the team brought in Kimi Raikkonen and Grosjean returned to the squad.
Career stats
| 2010 | 2011 | |
| Championship position | 13 | 10 |
| Points | 27 | 37 |
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Image © Renault/LAT
