Renault: Heidfeld with Kubica?

The serial of the second pilot Renault should soon know its epilogue. For several months, candidates close to the stable of?enstone were not missed. After having hoped to be renewed, Romain Grosjean should not benefit from this decision by the new management.

Cette semaine, Eric Boullier, nouveau team manager, a fait part d?une short de list de cinq noms, parmi laquelle ne figurait sans doute aucun nom de pilote français. Pourtant, Franck Montagny faisait aussi partie des candidats. Les anciens pilotes Toyota, Timo Glock et Kamui Kobayashi, now gone to other latitudes, had also been anticipated.

The arrival of the Enstone team in the capital of the company Genii Capital, whose president, Gérard Lopez, also owns the driver management company Gravity, had made people think of the arrival of drivers managed by Gravity. But the lack of experience of Jérôme d?Ambrosio or Ho-Pin Tung had to convince the team management to make another choice.

From now on, Nick Heidfeld and Takuma Sato are the two drivers expected to “challenge” Robert Kubica at Renault in 2010. The first, ex-BMW-Sauber, was however close to Mercedes. But Jenson Button was preferred to him at McLaren-Mercedes and could not cope with the return of Michael Schumacher en F1, arriving at Mercedes GP. The reinforcement of "Quick Nick", convinced that he will have a wheel in F1 in 2010, would be a guarantee of experience for Renault, which wishes to recruit a driver capable of fighting with Robert Kubica.

In addition, the Enstone team would then form the duo of drivers present in recent years at BMW-Sauber. A crew which showed, at the end of the 2009 season, that the failed development of the car byHinwil was the main person responsible for the team's poor performances at the start of 2009. During the last GPs of 2009, the performances of Kubica and Heidfeld still allowed BMW-Sauber, in the manufacturers' standings, to overtake? Renault.

But Takuma Sato is also expected to join Enstone to team up with Robert Kubica. The Japanese, who suffered from the premature end of Super Aguri in 2008, wants more than ever to find his place in Formula 1. Sato, author of 90 Grand Prix starts in F1, had first bet on Lotus F1, wishing to find reinforcement from the Asian team. But Jarno Trulli and Heikki Kovalainen were preferred. “ We have not given up, there are still a few places available and we will do everything to get them, his agent declared in mid-December. But places are expensive and we don't know if he will be in F1 next season. »