Vitaly Petrov made history in 2010 when he became Formula One's first-ever Russian driver and despite a difficult debut campaign Lotus Renault GP opted to retain him for the 2011 season.
Hailing from Vyborg in Russia, the 25-year-old first caught the racing bug when he drove a Lada Zhiguli with his father, who has provided the financial backing behind Petrov's career.
However, he was denied the traditional route into Formula One as there were no go-karting tracks in Russia. Instead, he started off in touring cars in his homeland before moving to Europe where he first made a name for himself in Formula Renault before moving on to Formula 3000.
From there it was the GP2 series for the Russian racer, who impressed many in the Formula One paddock when he claimed six race victories on his way to second place in the 2009 Championship behind former Williams driver Nico Hulkenberg.
His talent earned him a one-year contract with Renault, with the deal sweetened for the F1 team by the millions he brings with him. He reportedly paid £13million - seven percent of Renault's 2010 budget - for his race-seat.
With the stigma of a paying driver hanging over his head, Petrov was always going to find it difficult to prove that his talent is equal to his finances.
His introduction into the sport was brutal as he suffered three DNFs - two mechanical and one spin - in his first three races. He picked up his first points in the fourth race in China with a seventh-place finish, but it was downhill after that again, much to the disappointment of his bosses at Renault as team-mate Robert Kubica was fighting for podiums at the front end of the grid.
The powers that be made it clear that unless he started to improve he would not be offered a new contract. Improve the Russian did and he started a career-best seventh on the grid in Hungary, which put him ahead of Kubica for the first time, and finished in fifth. A ninth place followed in Belgium, but it was back to bad habits after that with no points and two retirements in the next five races.
The wolves were truly out and most people were convinced they wouldn't see the Russian on the grid in 2011. However, he kept his best for the last race of the season in Abu Dhabi. Sixth place might not sound like a good result, but he held Ferrari's title chasing Fernando Alonso at bay for most of the race. He was superb in defence and Alonso's inability to pass him probably cost him the Championship in the end. That helped the Russian to finish 13th in the Drivers' Championship with 27 points.
Despite changes at the top with Lotus buying a stake in the team, his bosses opted to retain him for another two seasons. However, he will have extra responsibility on his shoulders in 2011 after his experienced team-mate Robert Kubica was ruled out for most of the season following a horror smash during a rally in the off-season.
