Vitaly Petrov fulfills his contract

Vitaly Petrov had a very good performance this Sunday in Budapest. Seventh on the starting grid, he was able to take advantage of being placed on the clean side to climb to fifth place at the end of the first turn. Doubled by Lewis Hamilton shortly after, the Russian regained his place when the Briton retired with a mechanical problem.

He then led his race seriously. Although he quickly fell away from the group of four leaders, he was also able to overtake the drivers behind him. He finished fifth in the Grand Prix, being one of five drivers to finish on the same lap as Mark Webber.

« I'm very happy because everything went almost perfectly today, confides Petrov. I got a good start and was able to overtake Rosberg then Hamilton in the first corner. That was our goal. Then, I didn't try to block Lewis because I was having trouble getting my tires up to temperature. I had lost a lot of grip and was fighting against the car. So I decided to let it pass instead of taking the risk of losing several positions. »

The Russian once again finished in the points and, this time, he left his mark. Fifth behind the drivers Red Bull et Ferrari, the pilot Renault allows his team to capitalize. “ Today?s points are very important because Mercedes did not score any. Also, my friends and family attended the race, so I'm happy to give them this good result. »

Eric Boullier, team principal, is happy with the work provided by the Vyborg pilot. “ He finished the race in fifth position and it?s an excellent result. This is all the more important as Mercedes did not score today, which allows us to reduce the gap. »