PlanetF1

Petrov: I just need more time

Thursday 29-July-2010 16:43

Vitaly Petrov is confident he can secure his Formula One future, he just needs time to prove he's got what it takes.

Petrov joined Renault at the start of this year's Championship, partnership the in-form Robert Kubica. And it's been a tough learning curve for the Russian rookie, who has just seven points to his name while Kubica has already bagged 89.

Petrov's struggles adapting to F1 have recently led to rumours that Renault are set to replace him at the end of the season. The team, though, insist he still has a chance to secure his future, he just needs to become a regular points-scorer.

"No, I know what I can do," Petrov told Autosport when asked if he was feeling the pressure.

"I'm just asking them to give me time. Time for me is important because when I was in GP2 I needed three years to be quick because I didn't do formula cars before.

"I needed to understand how to work with the teams, with the engineers, with the set-up. I would say it was my school. Formula 1 is also my school, but with a higher level, so I just need more time."

One aspect he admits he needs to improve on is his qualifying performances as he has yet to qualify ahead of Kubica.

"In the race I don't have any problems. The problem I think it is qualifying. We need to improve the qualifying, because for example in Germany until Turn 16 I was absolutely the same lap time as Robert.

"I just lost three tenths at Turn 16 because I didn't know how to do this corner. There was not enough time in the dry to learn how to go quick. It looks simple, but it was three tenths and I was P10."

As for the rumours surrounding his future, he said: "For me it doesn't matter what people say. I always try to do the best, try to go as quick as I can. Of course it's positive when the team is speaking about good things, not bad.

"I try to push hard anyway. If you see, by the end or the middle of the race, Robert and I always have the same lap times.

"It's just that from Friday to Sunday I'm learning and in the middle of the race and the end of the race my laps are always the same because I learned a lot."