Vitaly Petrov

[Scott Webber]

Vitaly Petrov looks set to become the Pirelli test driver after appearing at the launch of the new F1 tyres for 2012.
Petrov has been without a drive since being replaced at Lotus in December, with rumours linking him to a seat at Caterham this season. However, after he was present at the Pirelli launch has manager Oksana Kosachenko said in a statement that he was lined up to be the test driver for the tyre manufacturer this year.

"The cooperation between Vitaly and Pirelli will continue in March, when he will take part in a major Pirelli event in St. Petersburg," Kosachenko said.

His manager refused to confirm the rumours that he could still replace Jarno Trulli at Caterham, but Petrov told reporters in Abu Dhabi that he had not yet signed a Pirelli deal and that being present with a team for the first day of testing was "target number one".

"Today they asked me to come and be part of this event, so I drive some cars, talk to some people and work with them," Petrov said. "Now in Russia, Pirelli is working quite close and maybe in the future we can do some good deals. So maybe while I will not test Pirelli, maybe we can work together in different parts."

source

 

[Eric Parker]

I think petrov should go to indycars. But I have a feeling he would rather gamble a ride in 2013 just so he can race in the russian gp. Which might happen due to circumstance regardless of talent.

 

[Chris Jenkins]

Interesting though that Paul Hembrey from Pirelli tweeted yesterday that Petrov was there as a guest and is no way associated with the company. He also said that Pirelli didn't have a test car, let alone any test drivers at present.

 

[Hampus Andersson]

Interesting though that Paul Hembrey from Pirelli tweeted yesterday that Petrov was there as a guest and is no way associated with the company. He also said that Pirelli didn't have a test car, let alone any test drivers at present.

This is very interesting because Pirelli wants a 2011 car yet no team will want to give another team an advantage so they said that they possibly have to take matter in their own hands and buy a car directly from one of the teams.

 

[Ryan Hayes]

he is in the frame for the Caterham role replacing trulli... There has been little hints from both sides (pirelli and petrov) that something is on the table, but petrov is still hoping to be racing.. we'll see....

 

[Michael Brown]

I think Trulli should be replaced, because all he's done with Team Lotus for the past 2 years is complain about the power steering, while Kovalainen has pushed the car to keep up with the Williams.

 

[Hampus Andersson]

Trulli took two, 13th place positions in the last season. Heikki took one.
The reason why Williams was even down there was because their car was crap.

 

[David Jundt]

Melbourne: Trulli is 2nd last, only beating D'Ambrosio(he is even 2 laps behind). Heikki can't beat him because his car fails.

Monaco: The amount of written-off cars elevates Trulli into 13th, just ahead of his teammate, who was faster in Q. Again, only the other new teams are behind them.

*Yawn* God, Trulli is so impressive(lucky does fit more)!

Actually, Heikki whipped the floor with him in the 2nd half where Trulli was moaning about the power steering. Not to mention it was Heikki that seemed to impress the team leaders and voted him 9th best, and not Trulli.

I think it's time for him to go for good; I'd rather see a Barri, Algy or someone else drive that car.

 

[Hampus Andersson]

Does that change the fact that Trulli got two 13th place positions while Heikki got one?
Does it matter what happened with your teammate in those particular races?
Did Kova had a whole season to snatch one more 13th or even better position?

It´s funny people think that Trulli is lying about his issues and manages to fool a whole team when in reality the team can see on the telemetry that something isn´t right.

Trulli is well known as one of the best qualifiers on the grid. Just look at what he did with the Toyota from time to time.

 

[David Jundt]

If not enough of the other teams drop out, you can't score 13th places. Whatever Trulli would have tried. And I believe that for example at Melbourne, Heikki would have beaten him if not for the car.

Lying? Everyone probably knew he didn't like the power steering. And when it was changed, he was even more beaten by Heikki!

Who cares what he did back THEN at Toyota? We live in the present, wake up! Do or don't(What last year's car, it was a don't anyway, nevermind)! Alguersuari should have replaced him, but he seems to wait for a testing spot at Mercedes...

 

[Hampus Andersson]

It was never changed... he had problems all year....

The reason for bringing up Toyota was because he was incredible in the Toyota considering the machinery he had...
You should wake up David..

Algy, Algy, Algy.... all this talk but he still did not do anything that would separate him from Buemi...

 

[Chris Jenkins]

="Hampus Andersson, post: 1040540, member: 554"]It was never changed... he had problems all year....

They did develop a new power-steering system just for him, which shut him up for all of 2 days.
I remember an interview on BBC with him at Silverstone I think it was and he was all smiles and laughter because he "could finally feel the car" with the new power steering system.

My problem with Trulli is that he's all about the excuses. Not just shutting up and getting on with it.
Heikki is better than him in the Lotus/Caterham. End of.[/quote]

 

[Hampus Andersson]

If it really was an excuse the team would see it in the telemetry and he would be without a job for this season.

You can´t fake stuff in F1 and fool an F1 team.

 

[Chris Jenkins]

I'm not saying he way faking it.
I'm just saying it was his excuse for everything. Whereas Heikki just got on with it and seemingly had no problems and did a better job.

 

[Hampus Andersson]

I'm not saying he way faking it.
I'm just saying it was his excuse for everything. Whereas Heikki just got on with it and seemingly had no problems and did a better job.

Well you are implying he´s lying. Are you not? Because he says he has problems with steering, which is backed up by them team with telemetry yet you say it´s not true without having any sort of information at hand.

 

[Chris Jenkins]

Well you are implying he´s lying. Are you not? Because he says he has problems with steering, which is backed up by them team with telemetry yet you say it´s not true without having any sort of information at hand.

At what point did I say it was not true, or that he was lying? Find the quote.

I'm saying, its a CONVENIENT excuse. The slightest thing that he finds a bit difficult with the car (even when his team mate is driving the same car with no issues) and he uses it as his excuse for getting beaten and outperformed.
He's a moaner.

I'm sure there's plenty of people that would agree. Heck, even the BBC commentators were making fun of him this year for how he blames everything on his power steering.

 

[Hampus Andersson]

But you are then saying he´s lying.

He says he has problems, you say it´s an excuse meaning the issue don´t exist meaning you don´t believe him.
I don´t even know how you can dodge that one.

 

[Chris Jenkins]

Maybe it's just you not understanding me. Ever thought of that?

Let me give you a dumbed down example, see if you understand...

2 footballers on the same team have the same pair of boots.
The boots are quite stiff and sometimes gives both players blisters on their feet.
One of the players scores 4 out of 5 penalties and doesn't complain about anything.
The other player scores 1 out of 5 penalties and blames it on his boots.
One player shuts up and gets on with it, the other player blames losing on his boots.

 

[Hampus Andersson]

That was the silliest comparison i've read.
A bit like when you knew the performance of two cars that had never seen asphalt.

What part of "the team has confirmed Trullis issues" is so hard to understand.
The reason why Kova manages the problem is not because hes a better driver, it's because of his driving style.
Not saying Kova is a bad driver, not all, but thanks to his driving style he could work around the problem.

 

[Juen-Jen Wang]

I think petrov should go to indycars. But I have a feeling he would rather gamble a ride in 2013 just so he can race in the russian gp. Which might happen due to circumstance regardless of talent.

There were wild rumors that Petrov was looking at IndyCar but it seems more and more unlikely. I think we'll see Petrov in IndyCar if he is sure his F1 career is finished. Unless he would rather go WTCC or Sports Car racing, it'll all depend on how ICS' profile is handled starting this new era of IndyCar with their new chassis this year (and open regs in 2013).

That said, I think it's more likely we'll see Petrov somewhere in F1 in 2013