Surprisingly.....I absolutely agree with you. I firmly believe that the amount of years Villeneuve had in poor cars (say 98-03) really effected him. It's rare for anyone, let alone a successful World Champion, to spend that amount of time pushing shit up a hill but he did.....and did it brilliantly for the first 3-4 years of that period. Unfortunately I think the combination of that wearing him down (plus the morale at BAR disintegrating) and the accident at Melbourne 2001 (from which he had back problems) basically shaved the edge off his racing and his pure speed.

So no, I don't think he'd bring to Renault what he once could but he'd still be a good option regardless because, I believe, he's still a good racing driver. Maybe just not the out and out gun he once was.

Thing is, the only thing Petrov brings over JV (or Heidfeld) is $$$$. Say what you will....but that's not much at all from a racing perspective.

So again, I have no idea why anyone is excited about Petrov racing a Renault. None at all. He'll be invisible at best....and give Kubica nothing in the way of a challenge or someone who can help drive development of the car. Either way, good luck to them all.

Pretty strange because that nose:

http://www.toilef1.com/IMG/jpg_arton264-730cb.jpg
http://www.toilef1.com/IMG/jpg_arton204-ca19e.jpg

looks rather like that from R29 than from R30 according to this:
http://www.confidential-renault.fr/cr/imag...g_news_0442.jpg

but well... we will see today.

The red will ruin what would otherwise be a sweet sweet livery. Fingers crossed for a mean looking aggressive car - hopefully nothing like that mutated abomination that Mclaren unveiled.

It's a render of the livery, not the actual car. Didn't I say that? Also, it doesn't come from an official website. It could be that someone has done a mock-up based on the 30th Anniversay livery, added that yellow overlay like the pictures of the drivers on the Renault website and passed it off as being legit. It wouldn't be the first time someone did something like that.

I'm sure they would, if they had any.

Petrov brings money from Sberbank and Gazprom. Sberbank's colours are green, Gazprom's light blue and white. It could be that we could see a 2005-style livery with Gazprom's light blue with Renault's yellow. Assuming that Sberbank and Gazprom are asking for space on the car - despite their money, Petrov doesn't carry their logos. And Gazprom is at odds with Totalfuels, though it could easy be constructed as Gazpom's natural gas supply being the sponsor, not Gazprom Neft the oil company.

If that is the livery, I'd wet myself.

The Red looks fantastic with Yellow and Black, in my opinion.

Who knows if it will actually look like that though...

I'd say Renault would know.

But is he super quick? Buxton doesn't think so.

As we have repeatedly established, attitude counts a lot. For all we know, Hulkenberg could do a Grosjean and Petrov a Kobayashi.

I am not so sure i'd agree, as Hulkenberg won the GP2 series in his rookie season while Petrov was in his fourth.

which seems to be a key point everyone is missing.

So what exactly is with so many people wanting Petrov in the seat? What's he genuinely shown? Apart from a boatload of cash.

So? It's still not a guarantee that Hulkenberg will be a success.


He has shown what Hulkenberg and di Grassi have not: that he can improve on his pace. Now, I have nothing against Hulkenberg and di Grassi, but Hulkenberg won the title the first time out. And di Grassi has always placed in the top three in GP2. Both are impressive achievements. Petrov, on the other hand, finished his maiden GP2 season in 26th position. In 2009, he finished 2nd. He's gone from the back to the front faster than anyone else currently in GP2, and it's not as if everyone who was in front of him in his first season has advanced to Formula 1, is it? Petrov doesn't have a maiden series win to his name. He has not been ultra-consistent at the front from the beginning of his GP2 run. But he has demonstrated his ability to get better, and that I think is just as impressive as what di Grassi and Hulkenberg have achieved. Because for all we know, Hulkenberg and/or di Grassi have piqued too soon.

And what, exactly, is your issue with Petrov, aside from his sponsorship? You're arguing against him, but you're not arguing for anyone. And if your issue is his sponsorship, why are you not protesting all of the other drivers - Sutil, Kobayashi, de la Rosa, etc. - who are also paying?

What's Kobayashi shown in GP2?

Petrov is good enough for F1 to get a chance.

Now I can say exactly the same about Macca/Ferrari/Mercedes or whatever

Getting championship at the first season = getting 2nd in the fourth season. I don't think so

Hasn't shown enough in GP2 for a (supposed) top team looking to make their way back to the front in the next 2 years. This isn't a brand new team (Campos, USF1 etc) we are talking here.

That is, of course, if we should still regard Renault as a strong, ambitious team and the 2nd seat a coveted one. Maybe that's the mistake we are all making.

Sorry, 4 years in a lower series as Petrov spent suggests just that, that being his money paid for his drive. If you come back to me with Genii/Capital needed the money then I can overlook that fact as the team needs the money to move forward. As for car development Petrov is not on the same level a PDLR.

Grosjean was relatively close to Alonso's pace, and at times was murdering the GP2 field. Petrov benefited from being in the same team as Grosjean at the start of last year, and could cruise home behind Grosjean when the car was great. When ART and Hülkenberg finally cracked the code, Petrov started to make unnecessary mistakes, and threw away all chance agt a title tilt, simply by being too slow. I'm convinced Barwa/Campos was the place to be last year, and he failed to get the better of it.

What's really alarming is that a factory team chooses a pay driver over seasoned professionals who can get the job done in a much better way. Renault has started to behave ,like USF1, Campos META and Sauber, and that sign worries me. I think they're out within a year (no I don't trust Gravity).

What's next joke? That friggin' DJ Sakon Yamamoto as third driver

i agree, this is not the normal professional behavior shown by a ,now former top team

I don't think either Kobayashi or de la Rosa deserve to picked ahead of Fisichella, Heidfeld or even WSR crushing champion Baguette. The Toyota finished the season as one of the very best cars, and in fast corners it was arguably a match for Red Bull. At Abu Dhabi, Kobayashi benefited from the surprising durability of the tyres, and the fact that everyone else fooled themselves into believing a two-stop was the way too go.

I've never fancied Sutil either, he's just been lucky that he was paired with hapless Christijan Albers in his first year, giving him a reputation he doesn't deserve. That he was only a little bit slower than Fisi was alright, but then again, look at Fisi against Kimi and you see the point It just goes to tell you how slow the drivers are down there.

I argue that Renault should have picked Nick Heidfeld, full stop. A born professional, not too high salary demands, seven seconds places in F1, beaten Kubica over a full season twice, and still only 32 years old. For F1's future, it's a disaster that pay drivers have been let into the fold yet again, and it could seriously hurt the talent influx in the future.

Yes, and I suppose you think Sberbank and Gazprom bought his end-of-season position as well?


I'm not denying they need the money, but I'm also putting value in Eric Boullier's comments that Petrov can make it on his own.


This has nothing to do with Petrov and de la Rosa the develop drivers and everything to do with Petrov and de la Rosa the paying drivers. Vitaly Petrov is paying for his drive. Pedro de la Rosa is also Paying for his drive. So is Kamui Kobayashi, Adrian Sutil, Jiame Alguersuari and probably half a dozen other drivers of varying abilities and successes. My question is why you're being critical of Petrov but neglecting to mention anyone else who is bringing sponsorship dollars to a team.

You seem to forget Renault sold a huge chunk of the team off, they are hardly the "factory" team they were.

has everyone forgotten about kobayashi already? not really anything special in gp2 and was great in his 2 grand prix last year

give the guy a chance at least D:

Do you think the pay drivers just show up at the team factory and say "Hey guys, I'm here and so is my chequebook, can I drive?" Of course not. That might have happened once, but the difference between then and now is that the driver has to progress through the lower ranks first to get to a point where they will even be considered by a team.

Also, when the sport is running drivers like Sebastian Vettel, who is 22 years old, 32 is very old by its standards.

No mention of TW Steel being on any of the 'leaked' R30 shots so far?

Let's face it, would William Smith from England have gotten four years in GP2 to prove his worth, and then getting a competitive Formula One drive? First of all, he would have been long forgotten with empty moneybags after his first year, and forced to go into sportscar racing or something else irrelevant. Had he got a second shot at the dice like Mike Conway got, he would have finished in eleventh like Petrov did in 2007 (crushed by team-mate Pantano), and then being forced to move to a low-profile IndyCar drive or similar, forever removing him from the F1 ladder.

Petrov's money kept him with Campos, and in the end it was arguably the best-funded GP2 team of all. That helped them with development of its competitive package, and Petrov finally got a hang on driving those cars after three years. Is that what Renault expect of him, being on the pace come 2012? I just say that a non-Russian driver would never have been forgiven for being so uncompetitive as Petrov was in all series before Campos...

Kobayashi:

2008 16:th in GP2
Oh god, he won GP2 Asia in between, beating Vitaly Petrov
2009 16:th in GP2

Still holds the majority and the veto though

Renault at least have a top driver in Kubica and Petrov's 50 million will go a long way to giving Kubica a decent car to stay in the top half of the field. To me thats better than having a "decent" second driver and not having a car capable of making the top half of the grid.

The fact that you think 25% is a majority shareholding makes me disregard absolutely everything you say.

Renault sold off 25 %. It was clearly written in the articles at the time, that Lopez and his men bought 1/4 of the team, hence ensuring that Renault still has got the controlling stake.

No. They kept 25%

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/low/motorspor...one/8415935.stm

well said,

That noise in the penny dropping.....!!! D'oh..!!!

Mwa ha ha.....

$50 million? He could buy a team almost.

There are some rumors that the DAMS GP2 team will be a Renault junior team, with Ho-Pin Tung and D'ambrosio as drivers.

People seem to forget that Kobayashi actually have won some serious junior categories, and won GP2 Asia. The Japanese showed glimpses of real talent. Petrov hasn't.

Yeah, I came second in GP2 and won half a dozen races, too.

I'd say Petrov has the better GP2 record certainly.

But you know who has a better GP2 record than either of them? Roman Grosjean... or Scott Speed. It doesn't always mean a thing.

is the launch anytime soon?

4:30pm CET, I'm told. Two hours after Sauber.

I get this pic from a friend on twitter. I have no idea if it´s the R30 livery...but I hope so.
Looks very nice !
http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a129/Lot...aad0fd332a5.jpg

That would look nice!

I'm pretty sure that's one of the designs that won the Renault-Confidential photoshop contest.

It's beautiful but it's Bell des champs' winning entry from Confidential-Renault's 'The R30 of my dreams' competition.

Petrov confirmed by Renault:

http://translate.google.fr/translate?hl=fr...ault.fr/?id=439

Genii Capital is stupid... I've had a bad feeling about them all the time, and this is just the icing of the cake

Genii Capital didn't make this decision. They no doubt ratified it, but it was Renault F1 who went to them and said "We want to take Petrov" in the first place.

Who would you prefer they have signed in his place? Heidfeld? Villeneuve?