Petrov possibly on his way out of Renualt?

[englishpremier]

Just read the James Allen article on Petrov criticising the Renault team.

He seems to think that Petrov's actions are not those of a man who has a seat at the team next year, despite being under contract.

We know that Grosjean will be racing for Renualt next year, but who is going to replace Petrov? Kubica still hasn't even been in a go kart.

http://www.jamesallenonf1.com/2011/11/what-next-for-petrov-after-rant-at-renault/

They never should have got rid of Heidfeld really.

 

[Guerrilla]

It all depends on Kubica, if he was fit and able i think we would have heard of him at least testing by now.

If Petrov is on his way out I guess the easy option would be to throw Grosjean and Senna together but that would severely lack any sort of lead driver and experience.

The other options would be to try snap up Sutil or Barrichello for a year or so to act as lead driver until Kubica is ready.

 

[englishpremier]

Sutil or Barrichello would be a decent choice. I haven't seen anything from Senna that suggests he is up to the job.

 

[Skeeter]

Have FI made their decision yet? Is Sutil on the market?

 

[FrankJH]

Rumour that Kubika MIGHT replace Massa for 2013, as long as he can prove his fitness over the winter (as its probably already too late for him as stated for Renault /2012)

Strong words - but maybe thats what a team leader is meant to do, its not exactly opinion, its FACT that Renualt have gone backwards since the start of the year.

This is the time of year where team leaders should speak out, admittedly he should possibly admit to his own mistakes as well (so it doesnt appear to be so critical ) but Im not sure who else Renault are likely to get who will DEFINITELY be a step up in quality (ie plenty of potential gambles around)

The other thing is - Petrov has one year left on his contract, and Grojean (sp?) will probably have a multi year deal, and with the Kubika question un-answerable currently really that leaves a race seat for a single year going in a so-so team ..... I cant see rookie's wanting to take a single year option (ie knowing there is no availability for the year after) and of course Massa will probably move down the grid also which could complicate matters further....

 

[NathanE]

My respect for Petrov just went up several notches. I thought he was the F1 driver equivalent of a 9-5 worker.

 

[Guerrilla]

Have FI made their decision yet? Is Sutil on the market?

Don't think there has been anyhting confirmed yet no, only the rumours and speculation.

 

[englishpremier]

No reason why Sutil shouldn't be in the FI he's performing well enough. If Di Resta can't outscore him, Hulkenberg certainly isn't going to.

 

[Skeeter]

Unfortunately for Sutil, I expect money will trump skill.

We shall see though, I thought Vijay said they would announce their drivers after Abu Dhabi?

 

[JRS]

Petrov's manager has gone into damage limitation mode.

 

[arknor]

Unfortunately for Sutil, I expect money will trump skill.

We shall see though, I thought Vijay said they would announce their drivers after Abu Dhabi?

most likely and with FI getting a 10million discount on engines for having di resta i dont see them dropping him anytime soon

 

[Skeeter]

Yeah, thats a given, the fight for the second seat at FI is between Sutil and Hulk. But Hulk was dropped from Williams due to lack of funding, and I've no idea if Hulk has built up more sponsors?

If Sutil is dropped by FI, Renault is about the best option for him out of the limited seats available.

 

[Duke]

Sutil is ok but has been at FI for quite a long time. Might be better for both for them to change.

 

[Indy500]

Petrov's manager has gone into damage limitation mode.

I don't blame Vitaly for making those comments, the team's a joke. It wouldn't surprise me if Renault bring Grosjean back into the race seat though...

 

[Skeeter]

If Term Caterham end up beating Lotus Renault next year, it would make my year

 

[Indy500]

If Term Caterham end up beating Lotus Renault next year, it would make my year

They kind of did already, Kovalainen finished ahead of Petrov in Singapore. Of course the overall WCC figures are vastly different.

 

[englishpremier]

That would be awesome.

I liked the team when they were Renault proper, but the current owners are a joke.

Sutil will never be going there. Don't forget he bottled the owner in Shanghai, with shards of glass cutting the guy's neck.

 

[ShakenNstirred]

i honestly don't see Kubica ever coming back to F1 never mind Renault
so they need to look for a lead driver

 

[pingwing]

His outburst is about right, the team have done everything to avoid the fact they haven't developed the car well. There were grumblings by Monaco that the car wasn't getting its required investment which is giving up 6 races in, which is rock bottom of bad management from the team.

There's another report out there where he points out that him (and Heidfeld/Senna) have been constantly blamed for poor results, which is terrible pr management from the team and must be so demoralising for him (especially as he's not been in F1 for years and isn't team leader material at least yet).

Least the teams seats a more or less free even if the car may well be slow...

 

[Flibster]

His outburst is about right, the team have done everything to avoid the fact they haven't developed the car well. There were grumblings by Monaco that the car wasn't getting its required investment which is giving up 6 races in, which is rock bottom of bad management from the team.

There's still rumours about lack of payments to RenaultSport for the engines and asking Group Lotus for advances in the sponsorship fees to pay for... well, the teams wages.

Scary that they ditched Heidfeld *a paid driver* for Senna *a paying driver* to sit alongside Petrov *a paying driver*