Vitaly Petrov has admitted he might be in breach of contract for a rant against his F1 team Renault in the Russian press.<\/p>\n
He started by telling Russian television Rossiya 2 that the Enstone based team’s development of its 2011 car has not been good enough due to early problems with the unique forward-mounted engine exhausts.<\/p>\n
“For almost ten races we have had absolutely nothing (new), which, in fact, means we drive basically the same car we began the season with,” said Petrov.<\/p>\n
“Of course, the first podium (in Australia) was inspiring, for me, the whole of Russia, all the fans.\u00a0 But then I was just angry with everything and tried to do something.<\/p>\n
“Unfortunately, I can’t say anything bad about the team, it is written down in my contract,” said the 27-year-old.<\/p>\n
Petrov uses the word ‘unfortunately’ because he claims the team bosses are often highly critical.<\/p>\n
“Read my interviews, I don’t criticise a team that lost many times.\u00a0 How much have we lost on pitstops?\u00a0 How much have we lost on tactics?<\/p>\n
“Due to that kind of thing we lost, I can say, about ten races, if not more.\u00a0 Unfortunately, I couldn’t say in an interview that we lost due to poor pitstops once again, or something.<\/p>\n
“I still can’t speak about it, but on the same side I also can’t remain silent, I’ve had enough of it, I can’t keep everything inside.”<\/p>\n
The breaking of the silence might be related to speculation Renault, to become Lotus in 2012, is rethinking its entire driver lineup for next year, despite already having a contract with Petrov.<\/p>\n
“This is formula one, it’s business,” he admitted.\u00a0 “Gradually, they’re just working to get more -\u2013 maybe the price, maybe the sponsors, maybe the drivers around them.<\/p>\n
“Look at the queue of drivers at Williams — I believe there are 20 people eager to take the second place there.\u00a0 Thank god I’m not in it.<\/p>\n
“As for me, I think it is quite clear — I have a contract.\u00a0 But as I said before, even the world champion Kimi Raikkonen was asked (by Ferrari) to leave formula one for a certain amount.<\/p>\n
“It’s a world where everything is possible, it will be hard to oppose if they want to remove someone,” he admitted.<\/p>\n
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