Petrov: “I hope the wheel turns”

Unlike his teammate Robert Kubica, Vitaly Petrov did not have a car equipped with F-Duct. On Saturday, in qualifying, the Russian made a mistake in Q2, spinning before hitting the wall.

During the race, contact with the Williams d?Hulkenberg will undermine his ambitions. The 2 GP2009 vice-champion still managed to place his R30 in tenth position a short distance from the finish, but he ultimately had to bow to his teammate. The pilot Renault, obviously somewhat disappointed, now turns to Japan, where he hopes that luck will smile on him again.

“I had a fantastic start and was in 10th position from the start of the race, explains the Russian. We changed tires as soon as the first safety car intervened. I was the first driver on premium tires behind Webber and the situation was promising. I will have to watch the video to see what happened with Hülkenberg and to understand why he pushed me off the track at turn seven. It cost me three positions. I was then stuck behind Massa, in the train behind Force India, and it was simply impossible to overtake because we had all made our stops and put on new tires at the same time. The race was tough, luck abandoned me during qualifying. I hope the wheel turns at Suzuka, so I can have a consistent weekend in qualifying and racing. »

At a time when speculation is rife regarding Robert Kubica?s team in 2011, Vitaly Petrov still has four Grands Prix ahead of him to prove to the leaders of the French team that he is indeed the man for the job. Performing well in the race, the Russian is still struggling to shine in qualifying.

Find the full report of the Singapore Grand Prix in your AUTOhebdo magazine on newsstands tomorrow.