Drivers

Vitaly Petrov

GP2 runner up Vitaly Petrov is expected to be unveiled as replacing Romain Grosjean at the launch in Valencia today.

Petrov brings plenty of sponsorship, namely Russian gas giant Gazprom, rumoured to be as much as £13 million – but team principal Eric Boullier insists he has been hired on his driving ability first and foremost, then his sponsorship opportunities:

“I am looking for talent first and foremost, but then after that I do need to consider the sponsorship opportunities. People say we are only looking at Petrov because he is bringing a lot of money, but he is not the richest driver we [were] talking to.

“Obviously it would be wrong of me to ignore his nationality – he could potentially open up a new sponsorship market for us in the future. Russia is not an easy market and today F1 is not as popular there as it is in some other countries.”

The news means that the top three finishers in last year’s GP2 championship – namely Nico Hulkenberg (Williams), Petrov (Renault) and Lucas di Grassi (Virgin) – will all be rookies on the 2010 grid.

It is expected that Dutch-born Chinese Ho-Pin Tung, a Gravity Sport-managed driver, will be Genii Capital-controlled Renault’s reserve driver for 2010.

Renault R30

In both the previous 2010 launches – McLaren and Ferrari – images of the car have been leaked before its actual unveiling. And with the 2010 Renault R30, it is no different!

We have long expected Renault to return to their retro yellow and black livery, (like this one in 2007 that celebrated 30 years of Renault in F1) and it seems that they are going to. A drawing of the R30 (above) has been published in a french magazine and official Renault images of the R30 (below) have appeared on French website Toilef1.com.

Renault are to unveil their 2010 challenger at 15:30 (GMT). All images and video from the Renault launch will be on the blog and there will be tweets throughout the launch on our Twitter page.

Sauber are also launching their 2010 car today, at 13:30 (GMT). For dates of all the announced car launches, visit our calendar.

“All my senses were on full alert – this alone was worth it.

“I felt comfortable out on track from the very beginning.

“The day was especially good because, after a long time, I could drive again in a car that comes close to a current Formula 1 car.

“I’d like to thank our team and the GP2 Series very much for the opportunity to drive.”

Flavio Briatore was barred from any involvement in any FIA ran motorsport event for life after the Crashgate scandal in 2008 at the Singapore Grand Prix, where Nelson Piquet Jr who was at Renault at the time was told to deliberately crash.

Bouiller has no prior F1 experience and was formerly the managing director of French team DAMS, a leading force in the GP2 feeder category.

He was introduced to the Renault team yesterday.

Virgin Racing today made its driver announcement in London, where it was confirmed that Manor have teamed up with Richard Branson’s Virgin brand, and that Lucas di Grassi will drive alongside Timo Glock at the team. di Grassi said:

“I could never imagine a F1 debut as perfect as this one. Entering F1 with John Booth and his crew, the same people with whom I won the 2005 Macau F3 race – one of the greatest successes in my career – is really beyond perfection I should say. And I believe I am ready for F1.

“I have worked a lot during these years to get here and I believe it happened just in time. I always had great expectations about the day I would enter F1, and I should thanks everyone who was with me all these years, and I shall say John and his team are among those very people I consider helped me to get there much before we signed the F1 contract.

“Being here with them makes more sense to me than to be with a veteran organisation. We will debut together, and that detail makes for a special bond too. I guess all that will make me stronger and more confident as I will be among old friends. I am ready to work twenty four seven and I am sure I will be able to contribute with the team efforts in every stage of our evolution in 2010.”

It was also revealed that Lucas di Grassi’s fellow GP2 graduates Alvaro Parente and Luis Razia will take on the role of test drivers with the team.

Campos are still holding talks with McLaren test driver Pedro de la Rosa over their remaining 2010 race seat.

The Spanish team have already signed Bruno Senna, and the team have confirmed they have not ruled out the possibility of the Spaniard being his team-mate, although a lack of Spanish sponsors has been cited as a potential stumbling block.

Team principal José Ramon Carabante said:

“There is a possibility that the seat which remains could be for a Spanish driver and, of course, it would be a dream for it to be Pedro de la Rosa – negotiations with Pedro have never stopped.

“If we are able to cover the budget, based on negotiations, the first option is to bring in Pedro.

“Being Spanish, we would be delighted to have him in our team, but it depends very much on sponsorship. As far as Spanish drivers go at the moment, de la Rosa is the only option

Other drivers in the frame are Campos GP2 drivers Pastor Maldonado and Vitaly Petrov.

Some would say it was about time, but today Lucas di Grassi has confirmed that he will be driving in F1 next year with one of the four new teams, be it; Virgin, USF1, Lotus or Campos. di Grassi said;

“It will be in one of the four new teams entering the sport. It’s a dream come true, of course. It’s fantastic. I am well-prepared, I was reserve and test driver at Renault for two years. My goal is to enter F1 to stay, in a solid way, to get results and create a future.”

The 25 year-old di Grassi performed impressively in this year’s GP2 series with the Racing Engineering team – he finished 3rd overall taking 1 race win. At the start of the month di Grassi was present at the young drivers test in Jerez, driving for the Renault team.

Barrichello, the most experienced F1 driver in history, and GP2 champ Hulkenberg were talking during a session recorded for Al Jazeera.

And team boss Frank Williams says the 2010 car will be better than this year’s, and he expects to put up a much better fight.

Here’s the video clip.

Campos Meta, the Madrid-based F1 racing outfit, could be closing in on a team-mate for Bruno Senna.

It is being rumoured that 25-year-old Portuguese race driver Alvaro Parente is on the verge of taking the drive.

Portuguese journalist Jorge Girao (of sportmores.com) said:

“Some of the companies have interests in Spain so it would be very positive for Alvaro’s sponsors to be with a Spanish team.”

It is also rumoured there are a few other drivers in the running (Vitaly Petrov & Pastor Maldonado) but the team have been promised sponsorship backing but seen very little.

Parente won the British Formula 3 Championship in 2003, with Carlin Motorsport, and the 2007 World Series by Renault in 2007, with Tech 1 Racing.

Parente moved into GP2 with the Super Nova Racing team. He finished eighth in the championship.

In 2009, he ran in the GP2 Asia Series with Malaysian team MY QI-Meritus.Mahara and in the GP2 Series with Ocean Racing Technology, finishing eighth.

Gary Paffett of McLaren topped the timesheets in today’s second young drivers test at Jerez, with the 2005 DTM champion and long-time McLaren test driver setting a fastest time of 01:18.718 in a day dogged by rain.

The Williams driver Nico Hulkenberg with a 2010 race seat for the team set a time of a 1:19.184 in his 94 laps to finish second fastest ahead of Daniel Ricciardo in the Red Bull.

Jules Bianchi could only manage 9th fastest with a 01:20.586 in his 113 laps for Ferrari, after announcing earlier he has signed a long-term contract with the team and will continue his race towards Formula One with a GP2 seat with the ART team in 2010.

The two Brawn GP drivers were almost inseperable – Mike Conway set a 01:20.222 and Marcus Ericsson a 01:20.440, despite the former completing 46 more laps than the Swede Ericsson.

The only driver who forced the red flags to come out was Mirko Bortolotti, when the Toro Rosso man stalled out on track. Bortolotti finished the session last, with his fastest time being a 01:21.761 in his 79 laps.

Times:
01 G. Paffett (McLaren) 01:18.718 80 laps
02 N. Hulkenberg (Williams) 01:19.184 94 laps
03 D. Ricciardo (Red Bull) 01:19.243 92 laps
04 P. di Resta (Force India) 01:19.411 58 laps
05 E. Gutierrez (BMW-Sauber) 01:20.190 68 laps
06 M. Conway (Brawn GP) 01:20.222 83 laps
07 M. Ericsson (Brawn GP) 01:20.440 37 laps
08 J.R. Hildebrand (Force India) 01:20.517 49 laps
09 J. Bianchi (Ferrari) 01:20.586 113 laps
10 L. Di Grassi (Renault) 01:20.898 67 laps
11 H. Tung (Renault) 01:21.492 57 laps
12 M. Bortolotti (Scuderia Toro Rosso) 01:21.761 79 laps

Some photographs from the young drivers test so far are in our gallery.