Vitaly Petrov
 Petrov at the 2010 Malaysian Grand Prix |
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Nationality  Russian |
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| Date of birth | 8 September 1984 |
|---|---|
| Formula One World Championship career | |
| Current team | Renault |
| Car # | 12 |
| Races | 13 |
| Championships | 0 |
| Wins | 0 |
| Podiums | 0 |
| Career points | 19 |
| Pole positions | 0 |
| Fastest laps | 1 |
| First race | 2010 Bahrain Grand Prix |
| Last race | 2010 Belgian Grand Prix |
Vitaly Aleksandrovich Petrov (Russian: Виталий Александрович Петров, born September 8, 1984 in Vyborg) is a Russian Formula One driver for the Renault F1 team. He is known as "Vyborg Rocket" in Russia.[1] By competing in the 2010 Bahrain Grand Prix, he is the first Russian driver to take part in the Formula One World Championship. He currently resides in Valencia, Spain.
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[edit] Career
[edit] Early career
Unlike most top drivers, Petrov did not begin his career in karting, as there was very little motorsport where he lived.[2] He began competing in the Russian Lada Cup in 2001. He remained in the series for 2002 and dominated the championship, winning all rounds and amassing the maximum points possible of 500.[3]
[edit] Formula Renault
In 2003, Petrov began racing in Formula Renault, racing in the Italian Championship for Euronova Racing, finishing 19th overall. He also competed in some rounds of the Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0.[3] He also finished fourth in the British Formula Renault Winter Series at the end of the year, taking one win.[3] He also made his debut in Euro Formula 3000 at Cagliari.[3]
[edit] Return to Russia
In 2004, Petrov turned his attention to the inaugural season of the Russian Lada Revolution championship. He started every race from pole position, but finished as runner-up. He also made selected appearances in Formula Renault and Euro F3000.
Petrov remained in Russia for 2005, winning the Lada Revolution Championship with ten wins and the Russian Formula 1600 series with five wins.[3]
[edit] Euroseries 3000
In 2006, Petrov raced in Euroseries 3000 with Euronova Racing. He finished third in the standings, scoring nine podiums in eighteen races including four wins at Hungaroring, Mugello Circuit, Silverstone Circuit and Circuit de Catalunya.[4] Also he participated in the Brno round of the 2006 F3000 International Masters season, where he took a pole position.
[edit] GP2 Series
During the 2006 season Petrov made his debut in the GP2 Series for David Price Racing. He replaced French driver Olivier Pla, who lost his sponsorship from Direxiv in the team from the German round onwards.[5]
In 2007 he moved to Campos Grand Prix, where he joined Giorgio Pantano.[6] He scored five point-scoring positions from 21 races and took his first victory at Valencia[7] on his way to finishing 13th in the standings.[3]
Petrov finished in third position with one win at Sepang International Circuit[8] in the 2008 GP2 Asia Series season for Campos, behind champion Romain Grosjean and Sébastien Buemi.
In main series Petrov remained with the Campos team. He finished seventh in final standings, taking a win at the Valencia Street Circuit.[9]
He finished fifth, with a win in the Sepang sprint race,[10] in the 2008–09 GP2 Asia Series season for Campos.
He stayed with the team for 2009, now rebranded as Barwa Addax, and finished as runner-up to the dominant Nico Hülkenberg in the championship, winning twice at Istanbul Park[11] and Valencia Street Circuit.[12]
[edit] Formula One
Petrov was linked to joining Sauber, Renault F1 and Campos for the 2010 season. He was announced as a Renault driver on 31 January and thus he has become the first Russian driver in the Formula One World Championship (Igor Troubetzkoy raced a Ferrari Formula One car in 1948). He has been signed for a one-year deal, with an option for a further two. He was very close to signing for Campos but he felt Renault was the best option for him. He also mentioned that he had no major sponsors from Russia backing him just his dad and some of his friends.[2] Petrov states that his goal is to start scoring points by mid-season. His teammate for his debut season will be Robert Kubica. After qualifying seventeenth, Petrov's first race ended prematurely when the team found his right-front suspension strut to be damaged, which the Russian suspected to have been caused by hitting a kerb too hard. He had been chasing Rubens Barrichello for tenth place and a World Championship point at the time of the incident.
He finished his first race at the Chinese Grand Prix, and in doing so, scored his first F1 points, as he finished in seventh position. This race was also noted for his overtakes of Michael Schumacher and Mark Webber under heavy rain.[13]
After qualifying for the Turkish Grand Prix he started ninth. But after a collision with Fernando Alonso in the closing laps, he suffered a puncture and was forced to make a pitstop. On returning to the track he set the fastest lap of the race, finishing fifteenth.
In Hungary, Petrov qualified seventh - the best of his career so far, ahead of much respected team mate Robert Kubica. He finished in 5th place, his highest finish to date, while in Belgium, Petrov started in 23rd place, after failing to set a time in qualifying because of a first-session crash. He made up 14 places in changeable conditions to finish 9th, resulting in his third consecutive points finish.
Petrov's height is 1.85 meters, being the tallest race driver in the current starting field.
[edit] Racing career
[edit] Career summary
| Season | Series | Team | Races | Wins | Poles | F/Laps | Podiums | Points | Position |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2001 | Lada Cup Russia | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | 1st |
| 2002 | Lada Cup Russia | SK OOO Favorit | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 500 | 1st |
| VW Polo Cup | ? | 1 | 1 | ? | ? | 1 | ? | ? | |
| Formula RUS | 10 Duimov | 2 | 2 | ? | ? | 2 | ? | ? | |
| 2003 | Formula Renault 2.0 UK Winter Series | Eurotek Motorsport | ? | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 44 | 4th |
| Formula Renault 2000 UK | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 23 | 28th | ||
| Formula Renault 2000 Italia | Euronova Junior Team | 12 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 12 | 19th | |
| Formula Renault 2000 Masters | Euronova Racing | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | NC | |
| Euro Formula 3000 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 22nd | ||
| 2004 | Formula Renault 2000 Italia | Euronova Junior Team | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 28th |
| Formula Renault 2000 Eurocup | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | NC | ||
| Euro Formula 3000 | Euronova Racing | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | NC | |
| Lada Revolution Russia | Elex Polyus | 4 | 1 | 4 | ? | 4 | 43 | 2nd | |
| 2005 | Formula 1600 Russia | Art-Line ProTeam | 6 | 5 | 1 | ? | 9 | 85 | 1st |
| Lada Revolution Russia | Maxmotor-Ulianovsk | 14 | 10 | 5 | 6 | 9 | ? | 1st | |
| 2006 | Euroseries 3000 | Euronova | 17 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 9 | 72 | 3rd |
| GP2 Series | DPR | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 28th | |
| F3000 International Masters | Charouz Racing System | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 29th | |
| 2007 | GP2 Series | Campos Grand Prix | 21 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 21 | 13th |
| 2008 | GP2 Series | Barwa International Campos Team | 20 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 39 | 7th |
| GP2 Asia Series | 10 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 33 | 3rd | ||
| 2008–09 | GP2 Asia Series | Barwa International Campos Team | 11 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 28 | 5th |
| 2009 | GP2 Series | Barwa Addax Team | 20 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 7 | 75 | 2nd |
| 2010 | Formula One | Renault F1 Team | 13 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 19* | 13th* |
* Season in progress.
[edit] Complete GP2 Series results
(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)
[edit] Complete GP2 Asia Series results
(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)
| Year | Entrant | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | DC | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | Campos Grand Prix | DUB1 FEA Ret |
DUB1 SPR 9 |
IDN FEA 5 |
IDN SPR 3 |
MYS FEA 1 |
MYS SPR 3 |
BHR FEA 10 |
BHR SPR 3 |
DUB2 FEA 4 |
DUB2 SPR Ret |
3rd | 33 | ||
| 2008–09 | Campos Grand Prix | CHN FEA 5 |
CHN SPR Ret |
DUB FEA 5 |
DUB SPR C |
BHR1 FEA 10 |
BHR1 SPR 12 |
QAT FEA 3 |
QAT SPR 2 |
MYS FEA 6 |
MYS SPR 1 |
BHR2 FEA 19 |
BHR2 SPR 11 |
5th | 28 |
[edit] Complete Formula One results
(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)
| Year | Entrant | Chassis | Engine | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | WDC | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2010 | Renault F1 Team | Renault R30 | Renault RS-27 2.4 V8 | BHR Ret |
AUS Ret |
MAL Ret |
CHN 7 |
ESP 11 |
MON 13 |
TUR 15 |
CAN 17 |
EUR 14 |
GBR 13 |
GER 10 |
HUN 5 |
BEL 9 |
ITA |
SIN |
JPN |
KOR |
BRA |
ABU |
13th* | 19* |
* Season in progress.
[edit] References
- ^ "Vitaly Petrov Adria race report". motorsport.com. 2006-04-11. http://www.motorsport.com/news/article.asp?ID=214689&FS=EU3000. Retrieved 2007-08-12.
- ^ a b Noble, Jonathan (2010-01-31). "Q & A with Vitaly Petrov". autosport.com (Haymarket Publishing). http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/81165. Retrieved 2010-01-31.
- ^ a b c d e f http://www.driverdb.com/drivers/467/career/ Career statistics at Driver Database
- ^ "2006 Euroseries 3000". speedsport-magazine.com. Speedsport Magazine. http://www.speedsport-magazine.com/motorsport/formula-level2/euroseries-3000/2006/calendar.html. Retrieved 2010-01-31.
- ^ "Petrov in as DPR says goodbye to Pla, Direxiv". crash.net. 2006-07-24. http://www.crash.net/gp2/news/67396/1/petrov_in_as_dpr_says_goodbye_to_pla_direxiv.html. Retrieved 2010-01-31.
- ^ "Campos sign Pantano, Petrov for '07". autosport.com (Haymarket Publications). 2007-01-31. http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/56534. Retrieved 2007-01-31.
- ^ "Unexpected win for Petrov.". crash.net. 2007-09-29. http://www.crash.net/gp2/news/68235/1/unexpected_win_for_petrov.html. Retrieved 2010-01-31.
- ^ "Petrov out of the chaos". crash.net. 2008-03-22. http://www.crash.net/gp2/news/68404/1/petrov_out_of_the_chaos.html. Retrieved 2010-01-31.
- ^ "Petrov picks up Pantano's pieces in Valencia". crash.net. 2008-08-23. http://www.crash.net/gp2/news/68601/1/petrov_picks_up_pantanos_pieces_in_valencia.html. Retrieved 2010-01-31.
- ^ "Petrov takes Malaysia sprint race". gp2.gpupdate.net (GPUpdate). 2009-04-05. http://gp2.gpupdate.net/en/gp2-news/209760/petrov-takes-malaysia-sprint-race/. Retrieved 2010-01-31.
- ^ "Petrov claims Saturday thriller". gp2.gpupdate.net (GPUpdate). 2009-06-06. http://gp2.gpupdate.net/en/gp2-news/213784/petrov-claims-saturday-thriller/. Retrieved 2010-01-31.
- ^ "Petrov wins Valencia feature race". gp2.gpupdate.net (GPUpdate). 2009-08-22. http://gp2.gpupdate.net/en/gp2-news/218016/petrov-wins-valencia-feature-race/. Retrieved 2010-01-31.
- ^ "Chinese Grand Prix - selected team & driver quotes". formula1.com (Formula One Administration). 2010-04-18. http://www.formula1.com/news/headlines/2010/4/10681.html. Retrieved 2010-04-19. "I'm happy to finish my first race in Formula 1 and to score my first points."
[edit] External links
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Vitaly Petrov |
- VitalyPetrov.ru (Russian) – Vitaly Petrov's official site
- Vitaly Petrov career statistics at Driver Database
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