Vitaly Petrov

Vitaly Aleksandrovich Petrov (; born 8 September 1984) is a Russian racing driver, who currently competes in the 2025 Middle East Trophy for SMP Racing, He previously competed in Formula One from to .

Born and raised in Vyborg, Petrov began his career in rallying, skipping competitive kart racing altogether. Petrov competed for Renault and Caterham in Formula One, becoming the first Russian driver to compete in Formula One at the 2010 Bahrain Grand Prix. Widely known as the "Vyborg Rocket" in Russia, Petrov scored his only podium finish at the 2011 Australian Grand Prix.

Early career

Unlike most top drivers, Petrov did not begin his career in karting, as there was very little motorsport where he lived. He began competing in motorsport in 1998, when he took part in rally sprints and ice races. Afterwards, he began competing in the Russian Lada Cup in 2001 and gained as his manager in 2001. He remained in the series for 2002 dominating the championship, winning each round to amass the maximum points total of 500.

In 2003, Petrov began racing in the Formula Renault championships. His main campaign was in the Italian Formula Renault Championship for Euronova Racing, finishing 19th overall. During the year, he competed in several rounds of the Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0, Also he participated in the Brno round of the 2006 F3000 International Masters season, where he took a pole position. During the 2006 season Petrov made his debut in the GP2 Series for David Price Racing. He replaced French driver Olivier Pla, who lost his sponsorship from Direxiv in the team from the German round onwards.

Petrov took his first win of the 2009 GP2 Series season at the Turkish round.

In 2007, Petrov moved to Campos Grand Prix, where he joined Giorgio Pantano. He scored five-point-scoring positions from 21 races and took his first victory at Valencia on his way to finishing 13th in the standings. in the 2008 GP2 Asia Series season for Campos, behind champion Romain Grosjean and Sébastien Buemi. In the main series Petrov remained with the Campos team. He finished seventh in final standings, taking a win at the Valencia Street Circuit. He finished fifth, with a win in the Sepang sprint race, in the 2008–09 GP2 Asia Series season for Campos.

Petrov stayed with the team for 2009, now rebranded as Barwa Addax, and finished as runner-up to the dominant Nico Hülkenberg in the championship, winning twice at Istanbul Park and Valencia Street Circuit.

Formula One

Renault (2010–2011)

2010 When Petrov drove for Renault at the 2010 Bahrain Grand Prix, it was the first time a Russian had driven in the Formula One World Championship. Petrov was linked to joining Sauber, Renault F1 and Campos for the season. He was announced as a Renault driver on 31 January and thus became the first Russian driver in the Formula One World Championship. He was signed for a one-year deal, with an option for a further two. He was very close to signing for Campos but he felt Renault was the best option for him. He also mentioned that he had no major sponsors from Russia backing him just his dad and some of his friends. Previously, on 1 March 2010, Carlos Ghosn met with Putin to announce that Renault F1 would have Petrov as its driver after Petrov's manager, , had sent a letter to Putin asking Putin for assistance. Alexander Petrov, Vitaly's father, admitted that his best friend "Antiquary" or Ilya Traber, who is the leader of the Vyborg Russian Mafia and is a close friend of Putin, is a major sponsor of the Renault F1 team and its driver Vitaly Petrov, too. Petrov stated that his goal is to start scoring points by mid-season. His teammate for his debut season with the new Renault R30 car was Robert Kubica. After qualifying seventeenth, Petrov's first race ended prematurely when the team found his right-front suspension strut to be damaged, which the Russian suspected to have been caused by hitting a kerb too hard. He had been chasing Rubens Barrichello for tenth place and a World Championship point at the time of the incident.

Petrov finished his first race at the , and in doing so, scored his first F1 points, as he finished in seventh position. This race was also noted for his overtakes of Michael Schumacher and Mark Webber under heavy rain. After qualifying for the he started ninth. But after a collision with Fernando Alonso in the closing laps, he suffered a puncture and was forced to make a pitstop. On returning to the track, he set the fastest lap of the race, finishing fifteenth.

In Hungary, Petrov qualified seventh, ahead of much respected teammate Robert Kubica, with Petrov finishing the race in fifth place. In Belgium, Petrov started in 23rd place, after failing to set a time in qualifying because of a first-session crash. He made up 14 places in changeable conditions to finish ninth, resulting in his third consecutive points finish. Petrov retired on the first lap of the after colliding with Nico Hülkenberg, and crashed out of seventh place in the . He qualified tenth for the final round of the season in Abu Dhabi, ahead of Kubica who qualified eleventh. In the race, Petrov pitted under an early safety car period which moved him up the order when drivers ahead of him pitted. Fernando Alonso and Mark Webber both came out behind him and Petrov remained ahead of them until the end of the race, which stopped the title contenders' progress and enabled Sebastian Vettel to win the title.

2011

After the season ended, Renault team boss Éric Boullier said that there was a good chance of Petrov remaining with the team in . On 22 December 2010, he was retained by the team on a two-year deal. During the close season, the team were rebranded 'Lotus Renault GP' following a sponsorship deal with Lotus Cars. Teammate Robert Kubica suffered serious injuries in a rallying accident, with Petrov being joined by Nick Heidfeld for the start of the season.

In the first race of the season in Australia, Petrov qualified sixth – a career-best – and secured his only Formula One podium, finishing in third place behind race-winner Sebastian Vettel and Lewis Hamilton. In Malaysia, Petrov again ran in the points until he ran wide at a corner and left the circuit; attempting to rejoin, he hit a bump caused by a drainage gully which launched his car into the air and broke the steering column on landing. During qualifying for the , Petrov's car suffered a technical problem after he had posted the fourth fastest time of Q2. As a result, he could not compete in Q3, leaving him to start tenth on the grid. He drove a consistent race and made good strategy calls and made his way to ninth after passing several cars after his last stop of a two stop strategy on Lap 37. An eighth place in Turkey added to his points tally before an eleventh-place finish in Spain.

In Monaco, Petrov was taken to hospital after a crash, from sixth place, involving Adrian Sutil, Lewis Hamilton and Jaime Alguersuari. The crash halted the race for 20 minutes before it eventually restarted. He was released from hospital the same day, and returned to the cockpit with a fifth-place finish in Canada. Petrov had a difficult weekend in Valencia, where he finished 15th, having started from 11th on the grid. He finished 12th at the , as new restrictions on blown diffusers were introduced. In Germany, Petrov returned to Q3 for the first time since Canada before finishing ninth. A non-points finish in Hungary was followed by a ninth at the . Petrov qualified seventh at Monza, but while battling with Nico Rosberg on the first lap, the HRT of Vitantonio Liuzzi crashed into the side of both of them, eliminating all three cars. Renault suffered their worst performance of the season in Singapore, where Petrov qualified in 18th and finished 17th, before a ninth-place finish in Japan.

At the , Petrov qualified eighth but retired after crashing into the back of Michael Schumacher on lap 16, causing a safety car. It became the third contact between the pair in 2011, when Petrov appeared to be too involved in trying to outbrake Alonso on the long straight before Turn 3. He incurred a five-place grid penalty for the incident at the inaugural , which meant that he had to start the race from sixteenth place. He finished the race eleventh, just in front of teammate Bruno Senna, and just missing out on the points-scoring positions. After finishing 13th in Abu Dhabi, Petrov launched an attack on his team in an interview on Russian television, citing lack of development, strategy mistakes, and criticisms of the drivers by team management. Petrov apologised for the outburst with an email to all Renault staff, with Éric Bouiller claiming the matter was closed. Petrov ended the season with a tenth-place finish in Brazil, but with Adrian Sutil finishing sixth in the race, Sutil moved ahead of Petrov for ninth place in the final championship standings.

In December 2011, it was announced that Romain Grosjean would partner Kimi Räikkönen at the team in , leaving Petrov without a drive.

Caterham (2012)

Petrov driving for Caterham at the 2012 Australian Grand Prix. On 17 February, it was announced that Petrov would drive for the Caterham F1 Team in 2012, replacing Italian Jarno Trulli and partnering Heikki Kovalainen. Petrov qualified 20th for the , and was running 15th when a steering problem forced him to retire on lap 36. In Malaysia, Petrov drove a clean race to finish 16th, ahead of Kovalainen. It became apparent that the Caterham lacked the pace of midfield cars, but was evidently faster than Marussia and HRT.

Petrov had another clean race at the where he qualified in 20th, and made his way up through the race to finish 18th, again ahead of Kovalainen who lost two laps in the pits. At the , Petrov managed to qualify well over a second faster than the closest Marussia, cementing the Caterham's position as the fastest of the new teams for the third year running; he managed to finish the race in 16th place, equalling his best result in Malaysia earlier in the year.

Petrov during free practice at the 2012 Malaysian Grand Prix. The was the first time Petrov had qualified ahead of his teammate by just under two-tenths, however, he finished behind him for the first time in the season. The was a bad run for Petrov, after qualifying nearly nine-tenths down from Kovalainen, he retired from the race on lap 15 with electrical failure, giving him his second retirement of the season.

At the , Petrov managed to qualify in 19th, ahead of the Toro Rosso of Jean-Éric Vergne, but was unable to keep ahead at the start and went on to finish exactly where he started, albeit, one lap behind the leaders. After starting the race on the tenth row of the grid, Petrov ran as high as tenth at the – a result that would have earned Caterham their first Formula One point – but was involved in a collision with Daniel Ricciardo and finished thirteenth.

After initially being outpaced by Kovalainen, once Petrov had adjusted to the car he began to turn the tables on his Finnish teammate. He finished ahead of Kovalainen in four of the last five races of the season.

In the final race of the season in Brazil, Petrov finished a season's best eleventh, making a crucial pass on Marussia's Charles Pic in the closing stages of the Grand Prix. The result meant Caterham moved back ahead of Marussia to claim tenth place in the Constructors' Championship, a position worth millions of pounds more in prize money.

Petrov was not retained by Caterham as the team replaced both him and Kovalainen with Charles Pic and Giedo van der Garde for the 2013 season.

DTM Petrov for Mücke Motorsport in Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters 2014. Petrov signed with Mercedes to drive in the German touring car series DTM. But after a scoreless season and finishing last in the Drivers' Championship, he left the sport after one year.

Personal life In 2007, Petrov began residing in Valencia, Spain where he lived while he was a F1 driver. Petrov voiced a character based on himself in the Russian release of the 2011 Pixar film Cars 2.

Petrov's brother Sergei is a music composer graduated from Vienna's Conservatory. Petrov's father Aleksandr was an influential businessman and municipal deputy in his home city of Vyborg before he was assassinated in 2020 – his death requiring Petrov to stand down from his role as a temporary steward at the 2020 Portuguese Grand Prix.

Racing record

Career summary Season Series Team Races Wins Poles F/Laps Podiums Points Position 2001 Lada Cup Russia ? ? ? ? ? ? ? 1st 2002 Lada Cup Russia 5 5 5 5 5 500 1st VW Polo Cup ? 1 1 ? ? 1 ? ? Formula RUS 10 Duimov 2 2 ? ? 2 41 10th 2003 Formula Renault UK Winter Series Eurotek Motorsport ? 1 0 0 1 44 4th Formula Renault UK 2 0 0 0 0 23 28th Formula Renault 2000 Italia Euronova Junior Team 12 0 0 0 0 12 19th Formula Renault 2000 Masters Euronova Racing 6 0 0 0 0 0 NC Euro Formula 3000 1 0 0 0 0 0 22nd 2004 Formula Renault 2000 Italia Euronova Junior Team 4 0 0 0 0 2 28th Formula Renault 2000 Eurocup 4 0 0 0 0 0 NC Euro Formula 3000 Euronova Racing 1 0 0 0 0 0 NC Lada Revolution Russia Elex Polyus 4 1 4 ? 4 43 2nd 2005 Russian Formula 1600 ArtLine ProTeam 6 5 1 ? 9 85 1st Lada Revolution Russia Maxmotor-Ulianovsk 14 10 5 6 9 ? 1st 2006 Euroseries 3000 Euronova Racing 17 4 0 2 9 72 3rd GP2 Series DPR 8 0 0 0 0 0 28th F3000 International Masters Charouz Racing System 2 0 1 0 0 0 29th 2007 GP2 Series Campos Grand Prix 21 1 0 0 1 21 13th Le Mans Series - LMP2 Noël del Bello Racing 1 0 0 0 0 5 13th 24 Hours of Le Mans - LMP2 1 0 0 0 0 N/A DNF 2008 GP2 Series Barwa International Campos Team 20 1 0 1 3 39 7th GP2 Asia Series 10 1 1 0 4 33 3rd 2008–09 GP2 Asia Series Barwa International Campos Team 11 1 0 0 3 28 5th 2009 GP2 Series Barwa Addax Team 20 2 2 1 7 75 2nd 2010 Formula One Renault F1 Team 19 0 0 1 0 27 13th 2011 Formula One Lotus Renault GP 19 0 0 0 1 37 10th 2012 Formula One Caterham F1 Team 20 0 0 0 0 0 19th 2014 Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters Mücke Motorsport 10 0 0 0 0 0 23rd 2016 FIA World Endurance Championship - LMP2 SMP Racing 9 0 0 0 1 63 9th 24 Hours of Le Mans - LMP2 1 0 0 0 1 N/A 3rd European Le Mans Series 2 0 0 0 1 23 15th 2017 FIA World Endurance Championship - LMP2 CEFC Manor TRS Racing 9 0 0 0 0 46 18th 24 Hours of Le Mans - LMP2 1 0 0 0 0 N/A DNF 2018 Blancpain GT Series Endurance Cup SMP Racing by AKKA ASP 4 0 0 0 0 6 41st 24 Hours of Le Mans SMP Racing 1 0 0 0 0 N/A DNF 2018–19 FIA World Endurance Championship SMP Racing 8 0 0 0 4 94 4th 2019 24 Hours of Le Mans SMP Racing 1 0 0 0 1 N/A 3rd 2023–24 Middle East Trophy - 992 SMP Racing 1 0 1 0 0 0 NC†2025 Middle East Trophy - GT3 SMP Racing 2 0 0 0 0 25 5th

Complete Formula Renault 2.0 Italia results (key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Complete Formula Renault 2.0 Eurocup results (key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Complete Euro F3000/Euroseries 3000 results (key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap) Year Entrant 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 DC Points 2003 Euronova Racing NÜR MAG PER MNZ SPA DON BRN JER CAG 22nd 0 2004 Euronova Racing BRN EST JER MNZ SPA DON DIJ ZOL NÜR1 NÜR2 NC 0 2006 Euronova Racing ADR1 ADR2 IMO1 IMO2 SPA1 SPA2 HUN1 HUN2 MUG1 MUG2 SIL1 SIL2 CAT1 CAT2 VLL1 VLL2 MIS1 MIS2 3rd 72

Complete F3000 International Masters results (key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Complete GP2 Series results (key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap) Year Entrant 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 DC Points 2006 DPR VALFEA VALSPR IMOFEA IMOSPR NÜRFEA NÜRSPR CATFEA CATSPR MONFEA SILFEA SILSPR MAGFEA MAGSPR HOCFEA HOCSPR HUNFEA HUNSPR ISTFEA ISTSPR MNZFEA MNZSPR 28th 0 2007 Campos Grand Prix BHRFEA BHRSPR CATFEA CATSPR MONFEA MAGFEA MAGSPR SILFEA SILSPR NÜRFEA NÜRSPR HUNFEA HUNSPR ISTFEA ISTSPR MNZFEA MNZSPR SPAFEA SPASPR VALFEA VALSPR 13th 21 2008 Barwa International Campos Team CATFEA CATSPR ISTFEA ISTSPR MONFEA MONSPR MAGFEA MAGSPR SILFEA SILSPR HOCFEA HOCSPR HUNFEA HUNSPR VALFEA VALSPR SPAFEA SPASPR MNZFEA MNZSPR 7th 39 2009 Barwa Addax Team CATFEA CATSPR MONFEA MONSPR ISTFEA ISTSPR SILFEA SILSPR NÜRFEA NÜRSPR HUNFEA HUNSPR VALFEA VALSPR SPAFEA SPASPR MNZFEA MNZSPR ALGFEA ALGSPR 2nd 75

Complete GP2 Asia Series results (key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap) Year Entrant 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 DC Points 2008 Barwa International Campos Team DUBFEA DUBSPR SENFEA SENSPR SEPFEA SEPSPR BHRFEA BHRSPR DUBFEA DUBSPR 3rd 33 2008–09 Barwa International Campos Team SHIFEA SHISPR DUBFEA DUBSPR BHRFEA BHRSPR LSLFEA LSLSPR SEPFEA SEPSPR BHRFEA BHRSPR 5th 28

Complete 24 Hours of Le Mans results Year Team Co-Drivers Car Class Laps 2007 Noël del Bello Racing Romain Ianetta Liz Halliday Courage LC75-AER LMP2 198 DNF DNF 2016 SMP Racing Kirill Ladygin Viktor Shaytar BR Engineering BR01-Nissan LMP2 353 7th 3rd2017 CEFC Manor TRS Racing Roberto González Simon Trummer Oreca 07-Gibson LMP2 152 DNF DNF2018 SMP Racing Mikhail Aleshin Jenson Button BR Engineering BR1-AER LMP1 315 DNF DNF2019 SMP Racing Mikhail Aleshin Stoffel Vandoorne BR Engineering BR1-AER LMP1 379 3rd 3rd

Complete Formula One results (key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap) Year Entrant Chassis Engine 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 WDC Points Renault F1 Team Renault R30 Renault RS27-2010 2.4 V8 BHR AUS MAL CHN ESP MON TUR CAN EUR GBR GER HUN BEL ITA SIN JPN KOR BRA ABU 13th 27 Lotus Renault GP Renault R31 Renault RS27-2011 2.4 V8 AUS MAL CHN TUR ESP MON CAN EUR GBR GER HUN BEL ITA SIN JPN KOR IND ABU BRA 10th 37 2012 Caterham F1 Team Caterham CT01 Renault RS27-2012 2.4 V8 AUS MAL CHN BHR ESP MON CAN EUR GBR GER HUN BEL ITA SIN JPN KOR IND ABU USA BRA 19th 0 Did not finish, but was classified as he had completed more than 90% of the race distance.

Complete Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters results (key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap) Year Team Car 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Pts 2014 Mücke Motorsport Mercedes-AMG C63 Coupé HOC OSC HUN NOR MSC SPL NÜR LAU ZAN HOC 23rd 0 † Driver did not finish, but was classified as he had completed 75% of the race distance.

Complete FIA World Endurance Championship results (key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Complete European Le Mans Series results Year Entrant Class Chassis Engine 1 2 3 4 5 6 Rank Points 2016 SMP Racing LMP2 BR Engineering BR01 Nissan VK45DE 4.5 L V8 SIL IMO RBR LEC SPA EST 15th 23