Relations between Petrov and Lotus Renault worsen after Indian GP incident
Oksana Kosachenko, manager of Russian Formula 1 driver Vitaly Petrov, revealed that after the unsuccessful Indian GP the relations between her client and his team have become tenser. Kosachenko also commented on the fact that during Friday’s practice for the Brazilian GP Petrov would be replaced by the reserve driver Romain Grosjean. It should be reminded that Grosjean will also take part in the Abu Dhabi stage – there he will sit behind the wheel of Bruno Senna’s car.
«We discussed the possibility long time ago, two months ago I was warned and asked what did I make of it. We had to get it all legally formalized. This is perfectly legal on the part of the team to ask for a place for its third driver, many teams exercise this right. I really don’t think there’s any problem about it, but on the other hand, I can say that for me the last race was a very worrying sign about the relations between Vitaly and the team. In my opinion, the situation now worsened to some extent.
«I am personally very anxious, because I don’t understand how the things will develop. A lot will depend on Romain’s performance. When you have a sponsor and such a tool as the engineers, and you yourself are both the team’s director and Romain’s manager as Eric Boullier is... You can configure the car as you like, and I won’t be surprised if he becomes first, second or third. You can make such settings, but they will not fit for the race.»
«I am not particularly happy with Vitaly’s performances. I believe he made some mistakes in the last race. He didn’t have a prefect race. I don’t know why it didn’t work. It takes time to analyze the reasons of an inconsistent race. It is very serious. It’s the end of the season, and we find ourselves in a situation when we understand that the car could go faster.»
«I don’t want to blame anyone. I want to draw some conclusions. For me, the presence of a strong third pilot driving in the free practice does mean something,» Kosachenko said as quoted by RIA Novosti.