Renault’s team boss Eric Bouiller has confirmed that Toro Rosso’s Sébastien Buemi has a ‘special place’ on their list of potential drivers for the 2011 season.

“Sébastien is on our list of potential drivers for 2011,” Boullier confirmed, speaking to Swiss daily newspaper Le Matin. “He even has a special place on it, because I know him well and like him very much on a personal level.”

Renault are in tough competition for the Swiss driver though, as Toro Rosso’s sister team Red Bull are looking at him as a serious future prospect.

“His Montreal race was perfect, exactly the kind of performance we expect from him,” revealed the energy drinks company’s motorsport advisor Dr. Helmut Marko, who no doubt can’t wait to get rid of Mark Webber. “If it continues, we might consider placing him in the Red Bull team in 2012,” Marko added.

With Robert Kubica signing a deal to stay at Renault until 2012, it seems that their other driver Vitaly Petrov really needs to shape up if he wants to stay at the Enstone-based team. Surprisingly Petrov has only finished inside the points once this season when he finished 7th at the Chinese Grand Prix. Bouiller said: “We now expect [Vitaly Petrov] to have some strong weekends and to have good pace and get in the points.”

Sébastien Buemi has had a reasonable season so far, having finished in the points thrice, including leading the Canadian Grand Prix at one stage in the race, something which had me as a Buemi fan rather excited!

He has the talent to score consistent points unlike Vitaly Petrov, and this could allow Renault to focus on Robert Kubica in the driver’s championship bid. I feel this combined partnership could work very well and stand Renault in good stead for a constructor’s title charge at the same time.

What are your thoughts on Buemi’s chances and Petrov’s seat? Leave a comment!

Renault have been the best of the middle runners so far in 2010, seemingly being able to keep up with Mercedes. However, they couldn’t manage that today as Robert Kubica retired and Vitaly Petrov finished outside the points in 13th.

Kubica got off to a great start, and was right in the fight for 3rd place with Alonso and Rosberg, until a driveshaft problem forced his retirement.

“I had a dream first lap, gaining a lot of places, but after that our pace was not so good and I was lacking overall grip. Following my pit stop I had a nice fight with Alonso, but he overtook me by cutting turn eight. I was on the inside, he was on the outside and he passed me with all four wheels off the track. The team informed me that he would have to give back the position, but before he could do that we had a driveshaft failure at the rear of the car, so all I could do was bring it back to the pits and retire,” Kubica lamented.

Unfortunately for Vitaly Petrov, he suffered a puncture meaning he couldn’t finish in the points, but still made up 3 places from where he qualified in 16th place.

“Today I think it was possible to finish in the points, but I had some bad luck with a puncture after the Safety Car period which cost me a lot of time,” Petrov explained. “My start was not too bad, and I made up three positions on the first lap. After then, though, it was really difficult to overtake because there are no slow corners at this circuit, but I tried my best. It’s good to have finished the race because it gives us lots of data and gives me more experience of the track.”

Team Principal Eric Bouiller said the start of the race was the only enjoyable moment of the day! The Frenchman said: “Robert had an exceptional start to the race, but unfortunately this was to be the only enjoyable moment of the day. It’s disappointing to see him retire, but the car has been extremely reliable this year and this is his first retirement of the season.

“As for Vitaly, his race pace was good today, but he picked up a puncture and that ruined his race. We now have to bounce back and find more speed because we struggled for overall pace this weekend. We also saw today how close the fight is with Mercedes and we need to work hard to get back ahead of them,” he concluded.

“It has been a fairly normal Friday for us. Of course there is a new layout this year, so I had to get a feeling for the braking points and the lines, but to be honest it only took a couple of laps. We then evaluated a new front wing, but we will probably use the older spec for the rest of the weekend. In the afternoon we worked on the set-up just to get a feeling for the car, but I think we will stick with the settings we had this morning. The new part of the track was dirty and slippery because it was quite windy and there was a lot of dust. There is also a huge bump in turn 11 on the new tarmac, which is quite surprising for a new section of track.”

Vitaly Petrov (P12, P7)

“One of the most important things today was to learn the new part of the track, which is quite interesting. However, there is a big bump at turn 11, which is a very quick part of the track and this was causing problems for a lot of cars. Once I had learned the new section, I started to work on the set-up and we changed quite a bit between FP1 and FP2 and found an improvement with the balance. We will continue working this evening and looking at the data to be ready for tomorrow.”

Technical Debrief with Alan Permane, Chief Race Engineer

Summary of the day: “Today was quite a challenging day, but I think we can be fairly happy with the work we have completed with both cars. We had a productive morning and changed a few things on the cars over lunch, but it was much hotter and windier in the afternoon and we didn’t find the improvements we expected.”

New part of the circuit: “The new part of the lap is particularly slippery and the windy conditions were blowing the dust about, which is why the track wasn’t really cleaning up as we would normally expect. The new tarmac also seems pretty bumpy, so we’ve been playing a lot more with the ride heights, especially raising the front to improve the car’s handling.”

New developments: “We brought another front wing development, but it does not seem as suited to the high-speed corners here as we would have hoped. It was an improvement in the low-speed sections, but not overall lap time.”

Renault have today announced that their driver Robert Kubica will stay at their team until 2010.

Kubica described the decision to stay at the French team as ‘straightforward’: “It was a straightforward decision for me to continue with a team where I feel at home,” the Pole said. “What’s important for me is to be in the right atmosphere, with a good group of people, where everybody is pulling in the same direction. This is what we have tried to build from the beginning of my time with Renault.”

Robert Kubica had been linked with Mercedes and Ferrari in recent weeks, and Renault team boss Eric Bouiller said this was a tribute to how he has driven so far this year. Bouiller clearly set out goals over the next two years: “Our clear goal is to become title contenders over the next two years. To do so, we need a driver of Robert’s calibre: somebody who is fast, totally committed and doesn’t make mistakes. His performances during the first half of the 2010 season were flawless, and we hope to achieve great things together in the future,” the Frenchman said.

The 25-year-old is currently sat 6th in the championship with 83 points at Renault, who have impressively bounced back this year after having three tough years, with the latter being overshadowed by the ‘Crashgate’ scandal.

“It’s an exciting circuit, a very challenging track, especially the first six or seven corners which are just amazing with current F1 cars. Most of them are nearly flat out, or perhaps even flat – it depends on the wind direction – and as soon as you exit one, you’re into the next one straight away: it’s just amazing how much speed you can carry through them. Of course, there is the new section this year, as well, which I’ve seen on the internet and on TV when MotoGP raced there: it looks quite bumpy, and different to the previous version of the circuit, but I think overall that Silverstone is a place where all the drivers are happy to drive, because it really shows 100% of the potential of an F1 car in the high-speed corners.”

Robert Kubica

He may like Silverstone, but Kubica is making no guarantees that he will be quick this weekend due to the difficulty of finding the correct set-up:

“It’s very difficult to judge. Silverstone is normally quite a tricky place for the set-up and for finding a good balance, because you have a big difference between the low-speed and high-speed corners, and there are not really any medium-speed corners in between. Downforce is a key point and with the changes we made to the car last race, it will be interesting to see if they bring us an advantage in the high-speed stuff. It will be a good test on Friday to see and feel the differences with the new package.”

Robert Kubica

So far this season Renault’s main competitors have been Mercedes, but it is a case of waiting and seeing as to who the French team will be in competition with at Silverstone, due to the updates teams are bringing to each race, as Kubica explained:

“A lot of it depends on the circuit characteristics and if you get everything right or not. We were very close to Ferrari in qualifying in Valencia, even though we were not 100% happy about how it went – but I think most people were struggling a bit in qualifying there. In the first stint of the race, I was behind Felipe and we had a slightly slower pace than him, but things might change. Mercedes struggled in Valencia, too, and we saw some cars having big ups and downs in performance during the weekend, so it’s very, very difficult to judge. Silverstone has a completely different character to Valencia or even Canada, and the last time we raced at a similar circuit was in Istanbul. Since then, people have made big updates to their cars, including us, so we really will have to wait and see.”

Robert Kubica

We are now over the halfway mark in the 2010 season, and Robert Kubica believes the team can feel very proud of their efforts and achievements over the year so far:

“As a driver you’re always hoping for a winning car but, in reality, myself and the team went to the first race hoping to get into the top ten in qualifying and we felt this was our potential, after doing a good job to improve the car during winter testing. Until now, we’ve qualified in the top ten at every race, and apart from Bahrain, my worst finish has been seventh. All in all, we can be happy with the job we’ve done. Of course, we had more room for improvement in the beginning, but we managed to close the gap to the top teams, and the guys in the factory have worked really hard to keep up the pace of improvements. Now, the last few tenths to the front will be very difficult to find, but I think we can be happy and really proud of what we have achieved so far after starting quite far away. I don’t think anybody was expecting us to achieve these kinds of results.”

Robert Kubica

Renault’s other driver Vitaly Petrov said that he is still learning about Formula 1, and he hopes that by the end of the year there will be clear daylight between the Enstone-based team and Mercedes:

“It’s difficult to sum up my feelings because so much has happened to me in the last six months. I’m still learning about Formula 1 and I feel that I’m improving at each race and working better with the team and my engineers. I’ve seen just how competitive Formula 1 is and it still amazes me to see how much effort goes on by the team to improve the car at each race. For the rest of the season I know that I must work hard with Robert if we are to beat Mercedes before the end of the year, and this is our clear objective.”

Vitaly Petrov

The Russian also added his thoughts on the new Silverstone circuit, but unfortunately he doesn’t think that the layout changes will increase overtaking:

“Until we get there and drive the lap it’s difficult to know what the new section will be like in an F1 car. My feeling is that it will just make the lap a bit longer because the main characteristics of the track have not changed. It was always difficult to overtake at the old Silverstone because of the quick corners and I think that will still be the case this year. There are some extra straights, but I don’t know if they are long enough to allow overtaking.”

Vitaly Petrov

The Renault team boss Eric Bouiller expanded on the team’s battle with Mercedes, and said that he felt his team were hopeful for some big points won this weekend:

“The battle with Mercedes is a fight that I expect to last throughout the season. They are a very strong competitor and it would be wrong to underestimate them. They have two very good drivers and they are ahead of us in the championship so it’s clear that we will have to work hard to beat them. Obviously they were missing some performance in Valencia, which was a surprise, but I don’t think they will underperform at every race. So it was important that we took points off them because I know they will fight back.

“I’m looking forward to seeing the cars on the new layout and hopefully it will encourage more overtaking and improve the show. In terms of our performance, the recent upgrades we have made to the car should work well at Silverstone and I’m hopeful that we can score some big points this weekend.”

Eric Bouiller

Robert Kubica is undoubtedly a talented driver, and would certainly be winning races if he was at a better team further up the grid, but Mercedes doesn’t fall into that category. Renault and Mercedes are virtually inseperable at the moment, and I wouldn’t say that Mercedes are any further up the grid than Renault.

This means that unless Mercedes have an incredible championship-winning car planned for 2011, it wouldn’t really be worth Kubica’s while moving to the German team. I would have said that the Pole moving to Ferrari replacing Massa would be the most likely, but now that Massa has signed a contract it seems that the wisest thing for him to do is stay put.

Will Michael Schumacher stay on for 2011? I honestly don’t think so. I would like to see Mercedes replace him with Nick Heidfeld – a driver underestimated by too many people, and one of the greatest drivers never to win a Grand Prix.

What are your thoughts? Leave a comment!

The 24-year-old Swiss Romain Grosjean is hoping for a return to F1 in 2011, and hinting that Renault is his best hope.

Grosjean replaced Nelson Piquet Jr at the French team in 2009 and unfortunately his time in Formula 1 is more remembered for crashes and spins. Grosjean explained:

“I was in the wrong place at the wrong time. With all the problems around the team, it wasn’t easy; they wanted to make a clean sweep of the past. I want to come back in 2011. I’m not losing hope. When I see Fernando Alonso‘s results with Ferrari this year, I think I deserve a place on the grid; my pace was far from being ridiculous – I was never more than two or three tenths off him in qualifying.”
Romain Grosjean

Grosjean added that he is still in contact with Eric Bouiller, the new Renault team boss:

“I’m still in contact with Eric Boullier. We like and respect each other professionally and, once in Europe, I will walk around the paddock to establish other contacts and see if this could unlock something.”
Romain Grosjean

Personally I believe that Romain has a point. I hope I’m wrong when I say that it’s highly unlikely any F1 teams will look at him in terms of a race seat again. It seems grossly unfair that he was given just 7 races to prove his F1 potential and seems to perfectly sum up the modern attitude in F1 that you have to perform well instantly, and Grosjean wasn’t bad by any means!

I’m just clinging on to the hope that Kubica replaces Massa at Ferrari and that makes way for Romain!

Robert Kubica’s potential was obvious in his debut season in 2007, and furthermore in 2008 when some were thinking he was going to win the championship! He collected his first win at the Canadian Grand Prix on his way to finishing 4th overall, but since then his BMW’s have not been as quick, and the Pole has slipped under the radar somewhat.

However that has all changed in 2010 at Renault, as Kubica has displayed impressive speed and consistency to creep rather unnoticed up to 7th in the drivers standings, just 9pts off the top spot. Despite this, not many are recognising him as a serious title contender.

The young Pole has kept his head down and out of trouble, and I believe that he is, a championship contender albeit an outside shot. He has a tendency to not make mistakes, and this combined with consistency and a reliable car mean he will always be there or there abouts.

He has been linked with the job at Ferrari, something which I can see happening in the near future, and if that becomes a reality I don’t believe anyone will be able to keep up with him, not even Vettel! :O

The Renault R30 has looked extremely good in comparison to the cars the team has produced in the previous two years and according to the team’s technical director James Allison, it is only going to get better:

I think we can [beat Mercedes] because at the moment they’re only just ahead of us on qualifying pace, whereas we seemed to have the edge on race pace in Malaysia. We will have more updates in China, including a new floor and an alternative front wing. Although this might not be enough to get ahead of Mercedes in qualifying trim, it should move us closer to their tail. And if we can jump ahead of them at the start of a race, I’m confident we have the pace to stay ahead.

James Allison

The R30 is by no means the fastest car on the grid, but Kubica has proven he doesn’t need the fastest car to be right up there with the big boys, and should Red Bull’s reliability come into question, or any of the other ‘big four’ slip up, don’t be surprised if Kubica is there to pick up the points and sneak to victory.
Image (C) Renault/LAT

If the R30 goes as well as it looks with its classic black and yellow colour scheme, Renault should have no issues in 2010!

Renault have had a disastrous couple of years in F1, but they are back with a new owner in Genii Capital, driver lineup in Robert Kubica and Vitaly Petrov, and team principal in Eric Bouiller. Will they fare any better?

Renault R30

The Renault R30 looks great with it’s black and yellow livery, that harks back to the days when Rene Arnoux was battling Villeneuve in a Renault with a similar colour scheme, but it’s not just the paint job which has changed on the Renault from last year’s R29.

The main changes are the result of accommodating the much larger fuel tank for the 2010 rules and re-optimising the car without KERS.

The car has also undergone intense aerodynamic development, with the rear of the car being considerably reworked to allow the car to make the most of the ‘double- decker’ diffusers that were first seen last year.

One possible drawback with the Renault is it’s engine. Like Red Bull Racing, the R30 uses the Renault RS27 engine; while this engine is very good on fuel economy – something very important in 2010 with the refuelling ban, it is down on power in comparison with most other engines, and it also lacks reliability.

Drivers

Robert Kubica was billed as the next big thing, and he has shown good pace, but it has never quite materialised into the championship challenging performances we have expected. His results at BMW Sauber were sporadic, and he has never had the consistency he will be eager to find in 2010.

Vitaly Petrov may be bringing as much as £13 million to Renault in sponsorship money, but the first Russian ever in F1 shouldn’t be dismissed as purely a pay driver. Petrov finished 2nd in the GP2 championship last year, and has been also relatively successful in GP2 Asia. As with all rookie drivers, we will have to see if that translates into good F1 ability.

Renault have today unveiled their 2010 car: the Renault R30, at Valencia.

As expected, Robert Kubica is joined by Vitaly Petrov who will be Renault’s second driver and Ho-Pin Tung the reserve alongside Jerome D’Ambrosio. (More in a separate story soon).

Press pack

Renault go retro

The old livery is back! As we predicted, Renault have gone retro, and returned to the classic yellow and black livery they used from 1977-1985, and boy does it look good! Along with some images of the new car, we have attached some of the original yellow/black Renault’s, to demonstrate just how retro Renault have gone.

You will notice a distinct lack of a title sponsor – financial services company ING prematurely left the team when the ‘spygate’ scandal came to light, and so did insurance company Mutua Madrilena

What do you think of the livery?

Images (C) Renault/LAT