Assessment: Petrov’s First Points with Renault

For the first time, both Renault drivers finished the race together, with a fifth place for the Polish driver and seventh for the Russian driver, who completed his first F1 race today after a very good performance.

Robert Kubica – 5th: The race was very contested today and I’m happy to have been able to score a few more points. At the start of the race, I had a bad start and lost several positions, but we chose to stay on slicks when it started raining and that allowed me to climb back up to third place. That said, the critical moment of the race came when the safety car intervened. It ended my hopes of a podium because the gap between me and my pursuers was reduced to zero. I’m satisfied with my position, but I’m still a bit frustrated to miss the podium.

Vitaly Petrov – 7th: « I am very happy to finish my first Formula 1 race and score my first points. The Grand Prix was difficult, and it wasn’t easy to make the right decisions today. In the beginning, when it started to rain, some drivers came in to switch to intermediate tires, but we decided to stay on slicks, and it was the right decision. Then, I was in constant contact with the team on the radio to decide when we would switch to intermediates. Once again, the timing was right. When I switched to my second set of intermediates, I knew it would be important to preserve them, but we didn’t know if the track would dry up or if it would continue to rain. That said, I kept pushing, the engineers told me I had a good pace, and in the last laps I managed to pull off two nice overtaking maneuvers, especially against Schumacher and Webber, to gain more positions. »

Eric Boullier – Team Principal: « Scoring points with both cars today is an excellent result for the team. I am very satisfied with this performance. Seeing Vitaly score his first points is fantastic. Moreover, he did it in style, driving aggressively and maintaining a very competitive pace. He completed a full race distance, and I am certain this will boost his confidence for the upcoming races. Robert also had a very good weekend and made no mistakes. I would like to thank the whole team, who have worked really hard over the past few weeks, both on the track and at Enstone. No mistakes were made, and the right decisions were taken at the right time regarding the strategy: today’s result is therefore a great reward for everyone. »

Alan Permane – Chief Engineer: The race was very competitive and we finish it with an excellent team performance. Robert once again had a superb race and we can be satisfied with scoring good points again with fifth place. Seeing Vitaly score his first points today is a good thing, especially as he showed great maturity. At the end of the race, he did an excellent job preserving his intermediate tires, and it was very satisfying to see him overtake much more experienced drivers like Schumacher and Webber. That said, we are a bit disappointed because we were in third and fourth places when the safety car came out for the second time. Without that, we would have certainly finished on the podium.

Rémi Taffin – Head of Track Operations: « Two cars in the points is a superb performance for our two drivers, especially for Vitaly who maintained a fast and consistent pace under difficult conditions. He also overtook a number of drivers on track, including a world champion! Robert once again ran a flawless race without any hitches. We can be satisfied with maximizing our potential with the 5th and 7th final positions. »

A Renault team now aiming to catch up with Mercedes, who only have a 14-point lead.

According to a statement from the Renault F1 Team