Before the 2010 season started, Petrov – a rookie in F1 and the first Russian driver to ever set foot in the series – was set a points target by Renault. He was supposed to score at least half the points Robert Kubica would bring to the table throughout the year. Simple maths tells us that Petrov failed to reach his part of the bargain, as he only got to bring home 27 points (as compared to Kubica's 136).
However, given the financial and political backing which Petrov enjoys from his home country – add here the very Russian PM Vladimir Putin – Renault might think twice before ousting him. And Robert Kubica echoed this feel earlier this week, when asked by formule1.nl if he thinks Petrov should be replaced.
“This is a difficult subject to get right,” said Kubica, hinting that it's not his problem to name drivers for Renault. “Of course the team would benefit from a more experienced driver. As a rookie you find that Formula One is not as easy as it first seemed.”
“You also have to say that there have been newcomers who have performed strongly right from the start. As for my teammate next year, the team is in the best position to know what it wants and what position they are in.”
“All I can say is that we have lost many points this season, for several reasons, but under other circumstances we could have put more of a challenge to Mercedes. On the other hand, we need to look at the circumstances we were in at the beginning of the year. (...) But how you look at the driver lineup depends on where you are at the time,” added the Pole.
Several experienced drivers have been linked with Petrov's place during the final rounds of the 2010 season, including Nick Heidfeld, Timo Glock, Adrian Sutil and even Kimi Raikkonen (at a certain point).
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