Renault’s poor second half of the season continued with another no-score in Korea.
| Bruno Senna | Vitaly Petrov | |
| Qualifying position | 15 | 8 |
| Qualifying time comparison (Q2) | 1’38.791 (+0.605) | 1’38.186 |
| Race position | 13 | |
| Laps | 54/55 | 16/55 |
| Pit stops | 2 | 1 |
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 | |
| Bruno Senna | 119.23 | 110.296 | 108.545 | 107.34 | 107.399 | 107.357 | 107.224 | 107.418 | 107.298 | 106.783 | 106.909 | 108.059 | 110.511 | 122.822 | 105.248 | 115.258 | 135.55 | 114.336 | 154.986 | 151.604 | 106.918 | 107.273 | 106.813 | 105.295 | 104.131 | 104.402 | 104.558 | 104.746 | 104.579 | 109.263 | 121.82 | 103.54 | 103.452 | 103.641 | 104.335 | 103.759 | 103.336 | 103.801 | 102.876 | 102.755 | 102.549 | 102.872 | 102.669 | 102.66 | 103.114 | 103.173 | 103.104 | 105.752 | 104.466 | 106.726 | 104.883 | 104.647 | 108.524 | 107.842 | |
| Vitaly Petrov | 113.356 | 107.783 | 107.111 | 106.42 | 106.064 | 106.801 | 106.043 | 105.694 | 105.642 | 105.469 | 105.612 | 105.992 | 105.816 | 110.041 | 123.804 | 161.649 |
Bruno Senna
| Start tyre | Soft |
| Pit stop 1 | Soft 21.163s |
| Pit stop 2 | Super soft 21.893s |
Senna felt held back by a lack of track time in Korea and qualified 15th, seven places behind Petrov: “The car was fine, I probably didn’t have sufficient mileage to push when it mattered on my qualifying run.”
It didn’t get any better in the race as he got away slowly from the line and slipped to 19th. He took one place back from Heikki Kovalainen on lap four.
He had difficulty making up places in traffic, passing Kamui Kobayashi’s wounded Sauber at turn one on lap 24, only to be re-passed in the DRS zone. Senna retaliated with a bold pass at turn four to finally claim the position.
He ran a long, 25-lap final stint on super soft tyres and by lap 47 he was losing a lot of time. Rubens Barrichello passed him three laps later and Senna brought his Renault home in 13th.
Vitaly Petrov
| Start tyre | Super soft |
| Pit stop 1 | Super soft 21.478s |
Petrov got his Renault into Q3 and started eighth. He did two qualifying runs on the tyres he started the race on but it proved not to be a problem – he made his first pit stop after several other drivers on lap 14.
Fernando Alonso came out of the pits in front of him on lap 15, and the next time by Petrov attacked the Ferrari driver using his DRS.
But he missed his braking point for turn three and smashed into Michael Schumacher’s Mercedes.
Petrov apologised for the collision and the stewards handed him a five-place grid penalty for the next race.
2011 Korean Grand Prix
Image © Renault/LAT
matt90 (@matt90)
17th October 2011, 15:50
I thought Senna’s move on Kobayashi was really good. Shame to see him struggling otherwise. I like him, and honestly think he he has decent potential.
Steph (@)
17th October 2011, 16:50
Apart from this weekend he has been bang on the pace ever since setting his feet on the pedals in that Renault. So I agree, he has potential.
laird18
18th October 2011, 9:47
‘bang on the pace’… of Petrov: one of F1’s most unproven ‘talents’. Not saying much!
Petrov isn’t fast enough to be in F1. Last year he was around a second a lap slower than Kubica. He only has that drive because of his money. Sadly the same is true of Senna.
Renault’s driver line-up is an embarrassment for what was, until recently, a title challenging team. Stick a truly talented young driver (like Di Resta or Perez) in that car and I believe Renault could have challenged Mercedes in the constructors.
Slr (@slr)
17th October 2011, 15:50
Petrov was racing rather well before he crashed into Schumacher. Senna was poor however, both in qualifying and the race. I personally don’t think he has done as well as others have said.
BasCB (@bascb)
17th October 2011, 15:58
I was just going to write the same @slr as that first line of yours. Not sure I agree with the third though.
Mr draw
17th October 2011, 15:59
I was wondering if Alonso deliberately missed his braking point in order to seduce Petrov to outbrake himself too, so he would smash into the cars in front of them. But maybe that’s too funny to be true.
AndrewTanner (@andrewtanner)
17th October 2011, 21:33
That would be fitting retribution for Abu Dhabi 2010!
bananarama (@bananarama)
17th October 2011, 16:37
This was a really bad weekend for Senna indeed, but I still believe he is a fine driver and I wish he’ll race next season. Its funny though that after the first real poor showing by him the team suddenly chamges Kubicas deadline. After mobbing and firing Heidfeld I kind of get the impression that its not the nicest place to work at.
lubhz (@lubhz)
18th October 2011, 16:14
I’ve always had the same feeling.
Ben Needham (@ben-n)
17th October 2011, 15:58
Not a good performance by either driver. I don’t think Kubica will be back next year – so these two need to up their game to fend off Grosjean!
AdrianMorse (@adrianmorse)
17th October 2011, 17:32
Although it would be too harsh to write Senna off at the first poor weekend, I suspect Grosjean is better than Senna.
lubhz (@lubhz)
18th October 2011, 16:12
Grosjean had his chance a couple of years ago replacing Piquet but had a poor performance then. I believe that they should keep this line up and focus on delivering a better car next year.
SirCoolbeans (@sircoolbeans)
17th October 2011, 17:37
It was a poor show from Renault this weekend.
Senna looks decent enough, he definitely needs more time in the car though, it’s not easy coming in this late in the season. He’s done a solid enough job so far, but needs to improve quickly from here to keep his place for next year.
AndrewTanner (@andrewtanner)
17th October 2011, 21:32
Bit of a disaster from Petrov but I can sympathise. Alonso could at least take to the run-off. You could argue that perhaps Alonso and Petrov should have been more aware of their surroundings.
Viggen47 (@viggen47)
17th October 2011, 23:00
I dont get this done a good job. He’s scored in 1 race since taking over for Hiedfeld. Petrov after 5 races finally out pointed hiedfeld. To me renault is a dismal failure Kubica or not. They went backwards after releasing Hiedfeld from the team. Petrov has proved he cant get out of his own way. Senna may prove to be better only time will tell. Hiedfeld was released for the money only. I’m hoping Force India can over take renault for 5th in constructors championship. Stupid move on there part.
wasiF1 (@wasif1)
18th October 2011, 3:17
Renault better start woring on 2012 car as this season they are hopeless just like Willams.
HelloKittyF1
18th October 2011, 21:19
Renault is going down. Poor car development, very poor drivers performance. No Alonso, no Kubica = going down…
Renault needs a top driver, Petrov and Senna are good for HRT testing.