| Vitaly Petrov | ||
|---|---|---|
| File:Vitaly Petrov.png | ||
| Driver Details | ||
| Nationality |  Russian
| |
| D.o.B. | 08/09/1984 | |
| Début | 2014 Hockenheim I | |
| Best Finish | 0 | |
| Previous Teams | Mücke Motorsport | |
| DTM Career | ||
| Entries | 10 (10 Starts) | |
| Wins | 0 | |
| Poles | 0 | |
| F.L.s | 0 | |
| Points | 0 | |
Vitaly Aleksandrovich Petrov is a Russian racing driver (born 8th September 1984 in Vyborg, Russia), whom competed in the DTM during the 2014 Season. Petrov, known in his native Russia as the "Vyborg Rocket" is notable as the first Russian driver in Formula One history, although his ten outings in the DTM were of little note.[1]
Background[]
Petrov's early career saw him debut in ice racing, largely due to the fact that Vyborg lacked karting facilities, with the Russian making his name at the age of 14. [2] A move to the Lada Cup in 2001 saw Petrov dominate for two years, before moving to the numerous Formula Renault Championships run in Western Europe.[2] He returned to Russia in 2004 to compete in the reborn Lada Championship, winning that title in 2005, before he signed up to the Euroseries 3000 in 2006.[2]
Ambition Building[]
With his racing career now in Europe full time, Petrov claimed an impressive third overall in the Euroseries, moving on to the GP2 Series for 2007.[2] That season also saw Petrov take part in the Le Mans Series at several races, and debut at the 24 Hours of Le Mans.[2] His focus, however, would be on GP2, with Petrov joining the Asian version of the series in the off season until 2009.[2]
His final year in GP2 Asia saw him take third in the Championship, followed by a campaign in GP2 which saw the Russian end the year as runner-up to Nico Hülkenberg.[2]
Russian Revolutions[]
Petrov was signed up to the Renault F1 outfit for the 2010 season, becoming the first ever Russian to race in Formula One.[2] His debut was marred by a retirement, but the Russian showed promise, and secured his first points at the fourth race of the season. Four more points finishes saw him end the season 13th overall, before a stunning start to the 2011 season saw the Russian stand on the podium for the first time at the season opener.
Yet, a single podium would be as good as it got for the Russian Rocket, as Petrov was dropped by his team at the end of the season, having only scored 37 points all season. A move to the less competitive Caterham F1 team followed for 2012, although his final season in F1 saw Petrov fail to score at all.
DTM History[]
After a year out of racing, Petrov became a surprise signing for Mercedes in the DTM for the 2014 season, as he filled their seventh seat for the season.[3] Joining Mücke Motorsport, Petrov would join another F1 exile Paul di Resta on the grid.[3] Yet, while di Resta enjoyed a number of promising drives, Petrov struggled to match the DTM's notorious pace in his debut year.
Running the #20 Mercedes C-Coupé, Petrov finished his debut race in seventeenth, a result matched in the next two rounds. A further four disappointing results followed, before signs of improvement shone through at the Lausitzring, where Petrov's experience on ice came to the fore.[4] The race was wet, and many of the drivers struggled on the slippery surface, with Petrov running in the top ten for much of the race.[4] Yet, drying conditions saw him fall back in the closing stages, and the Russian ended the day in twelfth, six seconds off the points.[4]
Yet, Petrov's best finish would come at Zandvoort two weeks later, with the Russian just falling short of the points in eleventh.[5] After again running near to the points, Petrov endured a mistimed stop that dropped him down the order, before putting together a recovery drive to get on the back of Joey Hand on the final lap.[5] Time, however, was not on his side and Petrov missed out on his first points by less than a second. His final race in 2014 saw him tangle with Adrien Tambay on the final lap leaving the Russian down in eighteenth in the race, twenty third overall and the only driver to fail to score a single point.
Mercedes opted to expand their DTM programme to eight cars in 2015, but decided to blood two new drivers in the Championship, meaning Petrov lost his seat to Maximilian Götz.[1]
Full DTM Record[]
Petrov's full results from his 10 starts in the DTM are outlined in a series of tables below.
DTM Entries[]
The list below includes all of the teams and cars, as well as overall finishing positions for Petrov during his DTM career:
| Vitaly Petrov's Overall DTM Record | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Entrant | No. | Car | Pos. | Pts. |
| 2014 |  Mücke Motorsport
|
20 | Mercedes C-Coupé | 23rd | 0 |
Career Results[]
Below is a table showing Vitaly Petrov's full DTM record.
| Vitaly Petrov's DTM Championship Record | |||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Rounds | Pos. | Pts. | ||||||||||||||||
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | ||||||||||
| 2014 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
{{{11}}} | {{{12}}} | |||||||
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | ||||||||||
| 17th | 17th | 17th | 19th | 18th | 20th | 18th | 12th | 11th | 18th | ||||||||||
| Results Key | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Symbol | Meaning | Symbol | Meaning | |
| 1st | Winner | Ret | Retired | |
| 2nd | Second | DSQ | Disqualified | |
| 3rd | Third | DNS | Did Not Start | |
| 7th | Points Scorer | NC | Not Classified | |
| Italics | Fastest Lap | CAN | Race Cancelled | |
| 16th | Non-points finish | † | Non-Championship Race | |
| Bold | Pole Position | 3 | Points for Qualifying | |
References[]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 'Mercedes confirms drivers, Petrov dropped', crash.net, (Crash Media Group, 30/01/2015), http://www.crash.net/dtm/news/213258/1/mercedes-confirms-drivers-petrov-dropped.html, (Accessed 17/02/2016)
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 2.6 2.7 Noble, Jonathan, 'Q & A with Vitaly Petrov', autosport.com, (Haymarket Media, 31/01/2010), http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/81165, (Accessed 17/02/2016)
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 'Mercedes signs Vitaly Petrov for 2014', touringcartimes.com, (TouringCarTimes, 28/02/2014), http://www.touringcartimes.com/2014/02/28/mercedes-signs-vitaly-petrov-for-2014/, (Accessed 17/02/2016)
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 'WITTMANN NEW CHAMPION, WEHRLEIN YOUNGEST DTM-EVER RACE WINNER', dtm.com, (ITR e.V., 14/09/2014), http://www.dtm.com/en/news/wittmann-new-champion-wehrlein-youngest-dtm-ever-race-winner-2014-09-14.html, (Accessed 13/10/2015)
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 'MATTIAS EKSTRÖM SCORES FIRST VICTORY OF THE SEASON FOR AUDI AT ZANDVOORT', dtm.com, (ITR e.V., 28/09/2014), http://www.dtm.com/en/news/mattias-ekstr-m-scores-first-victory-season-audi-zandvoort-2014-09-28.html, (Accessed 15/10/2015)