Caterham F1 Team, formerly Team Lotus, has announced that Vitaly Petrov has joined the team as race driver, replacing Jarno Trulli with immediate effect. The Russian was formerly employed by the other Lotus on the grid – Lotus Renault GP, which will race as Lotus this season.
Vitaly was at the Caterham’s factory in Hingham today for a seat fitting ahead of his first run with the team at the second pre-season test in Barcelona next week.
“When we first met it was immediately clear that Vitaly understands and shares our vision for how we want our team to grow. As the first Russian to race in F1 he carries the hopes of a huge nation with ease and his talents, experience with one of our current competitors and insights on and off track will play a huge role in our development as we fight to join the established teams ahead,” said Team Principal Tony Fernandes.
“I also want to take this opportunity to thank Jarno for the absolutely pivotal role he played in the formation and progression of our team since he joined us in December 2009. Jarno knew that when he joined us it would be a very different environment to where he had been before, and when we gave him the package he wanted he absolutely shone.
“With that in mind it was not an easy decision to bring Vitaly in to replace Jarno, but it was one we made to ensure that we give fresh impetus across the whole team and with a realistic eye on the global economic market. Jarno has an incredible natural talent behind the wheel, and his winning record and longevity in the sport will bear testament to that talent in the F1 annals forever, but now it is time to open a new chapter in our team’s story, and Vitaly is the right person to help us do that,” he added.
“I have been training hard all winter and am ready to get back into the cockpit and go to work. From what I have seen already, our new car is another good step forward from 2011 and now I cannot wait to see how it feels when we get to Barcelona,” Petrov remarked.
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dah agak dah vitaly ni ganti jarno trulli…….
If the machine cant perform, after change the engine from ford cosworth to renault, without kers and with kers, but the feb’2012 test result sheet still remain under the “poor” status, event micheal & senna also cant do anything with the poor machine, just keep excuses will not solve your machine problem, like airasia, had a lots of complaints too.
airasia? complain? from ur experience or from ur uncle ur aunt ur brother friend ur mechanic neighbor uncle friend or what. want budget but service like 1st class singapore airline gila ka. by the way u should not forget when webber in minardi he gave minardi their 1st 2point.that mean driver can make something also
u r right, but, back in the 2002 Australian gp, at the 1st corner during 1st lap the catastrophic chaos had wipe almost half the field, great drive and lucky too =)
Who on earth give a damn about the test result? That is not a conclusive projection of what F1 team will achieve during race season. Williams was great during test last year but look what happen to them in the end?
“Ford Cosworth??” LOL. Cosworth Technologies is not part of Ford you idiot. The year is currently 2012 buddy!
haha ford cosworth. still stuck in year 2002 ke?
Rojak Team get rojak result, for sure all the supporter dont like it, because is rojak too.
Vitaly bought massive Russian money into the team, TF doesn’t care his good or not, important is money. TF is brand builder not a die-hard-fan of Motorsport, so when this team making huge profit into his pocket he happy that’s what businessman do..
How does Tony’s team make a huge profit? How does he make any profit at all?? He is spending AT LEAST 40-50 million pounds a year
Tony will now have to look smarter and burn away his excess fat because Petrov’s mum will be camping out in Caterham’s garage this season.
Do you mean the chubby lady,blonde hair and wear glasses? that’s not his mom. She is Petrov manager. Oksana Kosachenko.
did he pay for his own drive again?