Vitaly Petrov was unhappy at being left out too long during his first stint.
| Nick Heidfeld | Vitaly Petrov | |
| Qualifying position | 11 | 9 |
| Qualifying time comparison (Q2) | 1’32.215 (+0.23) | 1’31.985 |
| Race position | 10 | |
| Laps | 9/60 | 59/60 |
| Pit stops | 0 | 2 |
Renault drivers’ lap times throughout the race (in seconds):
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 | 28 | 29 | 30 | 31 | 32 | 33 | 34 | 35 | 36 | 37 | 38 | 39 | 40 | 41 | 42 | 43 | 44 | 45 | 46 | 47 | 48 | 49 | 50 | 51 | 52 | 53 | 54 | 55 | 56 | 57 | 58 | 59 | 60 | |
| Nick Heidfeld | 115.956 | 104.059 | 101.47 | 100.641 | 99.735 | 99.942 | 99.452 | 99.755 | 99.577 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Vitaly Petrov | 106.887 | 102.094 | 100.061 | 99.727 | 99.709 | 99.587 | 99.654 | 99.479 | 99.31 | 99.695 | 99.84 | 100.173 | 99.838 | 99.885 | 101.674 | 99.968 | 101.25 | 99.946 | 100.053 | 99.705 | 100.433 | 102.907 | 103.576 | 117.291 | 98.184 | 97.605 | 97.71 | 97.492 | 97.657 | 98.879 | 98.099 | 97.959 | 99.067 | 99.279 | 98.83 | 99.089 | 98.039 | 98.445 | 97.932 | 97.983 | 98.375 | 97.849 | 97.568 | 97.866 | 98.743 | 101.198 | 114.967 | 96.367 | 96.341 | 96.186 | 96.834 | 96.366 | 96.881 | 97.054 | 97.416 | 97.357 | 98.369 | 97.137 | 97.295 |
Nick Heidfeld
Nick Heidfeld was knocked out of Q3 by Petrov and started 11th.
He shared the sixth row with Paul di Resta, who got ahead of him at the start before Heidfeld ran into him.
Heidfeld said: “I was squeezed at the start and sandwiched in the second corner.
“Heading into the third corner Paul di Resta was on the outside. I locked up my front wheels and tried to avoid him but just slid into him as there was nowhere to go.”
He was making his way back through the pack when he caught Sebastien Buemi on lap ten. The Toro Rosso driver seemed not to see Heidfeld as the Renault driver made to pass him on the approach to the chicane.
Heidfeld was pushed onto the grass, briefly flew through the air, and came to a stop in a gravel trap.
“He blocked the left hand side, as he is allowed to do, but when I went to his right hand side he just moved over on me.
“He must have known I was there. I had a lot more speed than him and was on my way to pass. He just didn’t give me any room and pushed me on to the grass and after that there was nothing I could do.
“It was an accident which couldn’t be avoided. It’s never nice being up in the air in one of these cars and it could have been dangerous.”
Vitaly Petrov
Petrov started ninth and gained a place at the start, so was unhappy to eventually finish tenth.
Michael Schumacher passed him on lap two and Jenson Button made it by 15 laps later.
Petrov ran one of the longest first stints – 23 laps – and lost time being passed by several cars who pitted earlier.
He questioned the strategy afterwards, saying: “Really we need to analyse exactly why we lost positions out there, and why we didn’t come in to the pits earlier to fight with the group in front.”
2011 German Grand Prix
Image © Renault/LAT
M.M.C (@mmc)
25th July 2011, 12:58
This is nothing new; Renault has questionable strategies last year, too.
M.M.C (@mmc)
25th July 2011, 13:08
had*
Eggry (@eggry)
25th July 2011, 13:04
This is 3rd time their car has been launched into the air. What a launch control.
apart from joking, Now Renault is falling away from Mercedes so they’d rather to focus on the next year. not only car but also drivers. Heidfeld should be replaced by someone the only questions is who it is. Kubica is very likely but if it is found out he could not race in F1 again…then who? Senna? Grojean? Hmm…
thatscienceguy
25th July 2011, 13:43
Grosjean has a bucketload more talent than people think. He really got stiffed stepping into the old Renault, was never given a chance to show what he could do.
BasCB (@bascb)
25th July 2011, 19:11
Senna for Friday, to urge Nick to up his game right now, and maybe for Brazil, after Kubica does FP1 there. And in the mean time put in Grosjean from Singapore onwards, after winning the GP2 title.
At least he knows many of the tracks that way and he can get up to speed for next year.
bosyber
26th July 2011, 20:04
Exactly, Senna getting FP1 on Friday must be seen as a wake-up call for Heidfeld, he isn’t even showing his usual uninspiring solid point scoring form, he is looking ragged and finding excuses for it.
But the car is also in need of those new exhausts and some aero-updates from their 60% wind-tunnel, and soon.
Prisoner Monkeys (@prisoner-monkeys)
25th July 2011, 13:08
Petrov’s first stop might have been a dud, but I think they timed his last just right. The commentators kept pointing out that the harder tyres were over a second per lap slower than the soft ones – but this only really applies to tyres that are in mint condition. When the softer tyres have been abused or twenty laps or so, they produce lap times comparable to fresh hard tyres, and so Petrov stayed fairly level once he pitted for the second time.
But this weekend, the R31 just seemed completely gutless. The leaders were steaming past Petrov in such a way that you’d be forgiven for thinking he was driving for Team Lotus, not Lotus Renault. And based on what (little) we saw of Nick Heidfeld. He was having a similar problem – he’d only just cleared Heikki Kovalainen a lap or two before his crash.
bosyber
26th July 2011, 20:07
Sauber and FI were, over this race weekend, but also visibly coming to it in Silverstone, doing a better job than Renault, and they got the points for it. Must be a worry for the team, and means they can’t afford to not be spot on with strategy.
montreal95 (@montreal95)
25th July 2011, 13:28
I’m very satisfied with Petrov’s defensive driving though! As good as ever!
Fixy (@)
25th July 2011, 17:07
That was my exact thought during the race. He always defends well, and I wish he wasn’t so good (Abu Dhabi 2010) :(
daykind
26th July 2011, 19:39
Please don’t remind me :(
Retrogolik
25th July 2011, 22:55
Pet admitted he had a thought at that moment that he should probably had let Jenson pass and not to kill tyres in a spectacular and obviously to everyone useless defence game due to a great pace difference. If he had let him pass then he following Button for some time might had a chance to make a more secure gap for those behind.
But such a calculating move definitely wouldn’t give him much of viewers’ respect, right fellas? And what is better for the racer with a option like this?
wasiF1 (@wasif1)
26th July 2011, 2:21
They are just going backward.
Retrogolik
26th July 2011, 5:20
no, this is wrong and dangerous! and i guess it’s against the rules!
wasiF1 (@wasif1)
26th July 2011, 11:55
I meant in terms of performance given the fact that had two podium in the opening two races,their development process hasn’t been fast enough with the likes of Mclaren & Ferrari.
AndrewTanner (@andrewtanner)
28th July 2011, 13:31
It is a shame to see them fall behind, they were so exciting at the beginning of the year.
A bit of a cringe moment when Heidfeld went flying.