Vitaly Petrov
Russian · 2010–2012
Photo: Jake Archibald from London, England · CC BY 2.0 · Wikimedia Commons
Petrov in numbers
64 official points · best championship finish: 10th in 2011
0Drivers’ titles
none
0Constructors’ titles
none
1.8% of races
0Drivers’ titles
none
0Constructors’ titles
none
2.6% of races with Renault
0Drivers’ titles
none
0Constructors’ titles
none
Vitaly Petrov was the first Russian to race in Formula 1. Born in Vyborg in 1984, he made his debut in 2010 with Renault alongside Robert Kubica, and in his first year he was fifth in Hungary. But the race he is remembered for that year was another one, and in it the story was the driver behind him.
In Abu Dhabi, the last race of the year, Fernando Alonso arrived as leader and needed to get past Petrov to be champion. He could not, in any of the laps he spent behind him: Petrov finished sixth, Alonso seventh and the title went to Sebastian Vettel. In 2011 came his best day: third in Australia in the first race, the first podium by a Russian driver, and he ended the year tenth in the championship with 37 points.
In 2012 he moved to Caterham, at the back of the grid, and did not score a point. Even so, his eleventh place in Brazil, in the final race, was worth money: it gave his team tenth place in the constructors' championship, ahead of Marussia. He left with 57 Grands Prix, 64 points and one podium.
Ver en españolRating by season
- First season
- 69 2010
- Peak
- 71 2011
- 2012
- 65 Caterham
3 seasons in the database, from 2010 to 2012. Our own rating, from 50 to 99.
Teams
Tags
Best year
2011
What would Vitaly Petrov have achieved with a different car or in a different era?
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His team-mates
4 team-mates across 3 seasons. When both finished the race, Petrov was ahead in 17 of 40; on the grid he started ahead in 21 of 58.
| Year | Team-mate | In the race | On the grid |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2010 | Robert KubicaRenault · 19 races | 0-11 | 2-17 |
| 2011 | Nick HeidfeldRenault · 11 races | 2-4 | 8-3 |
| 2011 | Bruno SennaRenault · 8 races | 5-1 | 3-5 |
| 2012 | Heikki KovalainenCaterham · 20 races | 10-7 | 8-12 |
The first number is always Petrov's. A team-mate is whoever started the same race for the same team. "In the race" only counts races both finished, because a retirement says nothing about who was quicker. "On the grid" is the starting position, with penalties already applied.
Compare Petrov with another driver
Titles, wins, poles and podiums side by side, against any of the 789 drivers in history.