Petrov Aims to Finish the Race in China

Renault is currently 5th overall in the Formula One manufacturers' classification, sitting on 30 points after 3 races, but none of that is the result of rookie Vitaly Petrov's input (at least from a point scoring perspective). The Russian driver managed some good performances in all 3 events, but reliability issues hampered his efforts on 2 occasions so far.

Overall, Petrov is one of the few drivers not to finish a single race this season, therefore his newly-set goal of at least crossing the finish line in China seems like a decent thing.

“The priority is to try and finish the race and get the experience of a race distance,” said Petrov, while admitting that he will also try to improve himself in terms of qualifying performance and drive consistently close to the points in the race.

“I also want to get closer to the top ten and hopefully fight for points in the race. I also need to continue working hard on my qualifying performance so that I can make it through to Q2, and hopefully Q3,” added the Russian driver.

Although failing to make the Q3 until now – sometimes even Q2 – Petrov impressed everyone so far with his great race starts. The Russian's ability to make up grid positions in the first few hundreds of meters is truly a positive aspect of his racing, as well as his aggressive (in a positive sense) attitude on the track – see the Lewis Hamilton episode in Malaysia.

However, finishing an entire race will not only build his confidence for the future races, but also help him experience the different behavior of his car in the later stages of a grand prix.

“At the moment I only know what it feels like to complete half a race in terms of managing the tires and adapting to the changing fuel load so that's not ideal,” added Petrov.