Renault team principal Eric Boullier admits he is over the moon about Vitaly Petrov's unexpected podium finish at the season-opening Australian Grand Prix.
After struggling to make much of an impact during his rookie year, many thought Petrov wouldn't return for a second season. However Renault opted to stick with the Russian and they were rewarded with a third place in Melbourne.
"It is good to see him reacting in a nice way," said Boullier. "He had a couple of very nice races last year, very promising, but also a lot of mistakes as well.
"I put a lot of pressure on him and we spent a lot of time discussing things. We put him in an environment where he could understand the English culture of F1 - what we expect from him and to help him grow up as a driver. It looks like we achieved something good for him."
Renault finished fifth in the Constructors' Championship last year but their decision to shift focus to their innovative car for the 2011 season has been vindicated very early on.
"I am proud, happy and relieved," Boullier said. "We had a tough winter. We gambled very early last year on innovation on our car. Clearly it is a different concept and everyone is still scratching their head about the decision.
"We had a tough winter as well with Robert [Kubica], so on top of all that it is a big relief to see that the tough work, the hard work, has paid off."
While Petrov grabbed all the headlines, Nick Heidfeld - the man who replaced Kubica following the Pole's horror rally crash - had a disappointing weekend as he started 18th on the grid and finished 12th.
Many feel Renault may well have challenged for victory had Kubica been fit and Boullier admits he also thought about what might have been.
"I did, but I refused to dig more. I said, 'just don't think about this'. I don't want to put it into my head because it is useless.
"So I close my mind for it. It is like people asking me if Nick would have qualified better. We did what we had to do, and we go for it."
