[smr2018test]
Sergey Sirotkin said missing out on a chance to become an F1 driver with Renault last year was tough to take.
The Williams rookie spent last year as Renault’s development driver and made four appearances in practice sessions. “I did very much the same preparation as an F1 driver did,” he said.
But when the team chose to replace Jolyon Palmer before the end of the season Sirotkin was passed over in favour of Carlos Sainz Jnr, who Renault hired from Red Bull.
“With the Sauber it was not really a full focus on it,” said Sirotkin. “It came as quick as it disappeared to be honest. I was still doing my career in World Series and GP2.”
“I mean OK it was a good opportunity which came out but at the end of the day it was not some I put all my life in. I was still racing, winning races and hitting my own targets.”
However Sirotkin felt Renault was a better chance to reach F1 and said his motivation suffered as he realised the deal wouldn’t happen.
“It was a bit more difficult with Renault last year because it was the first season when I didn’t race, I was dedicated to the team and I did a lot of work for them. And at some point when you start to realise that it’s not really going the way you expected it to be going it’s definitely not the best feeling, to be honest.”
“At the same time you’re still travelling and still doing a lot of work and then you are not so often behind the wheel so you don’t get satisfaction back. It’s not the easiest feeling, it was much more difficult than I was thinking it was going to be.”
“Anyway I learned from it the maximum I could and I need to thank them as well for making me the driver I am now and getting me where I am now.”
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Neil (@neilosjames)
1st March 2018, 16:35
So… he actually thought that a fully committed works Renault team would pass over all their other options and go for a rookie pay driver?
The optimism is admirable, I guess.
TFLB (@tflb)
1st March 2018, 16:42
Yawn. More Sirotkin bashing. You’re kind of putting words in his mouth aren’t you? He didn’t say he expected to get it, he said it was difficult spending a year not racing, and he was disappointed. Different things. Presumably answering a question that was put to him.
What I find amazing is here is a guy who seems very professional, with a good junior career, yet everyone seems to have it in for him before he’s even started a grand prix. Never seen such a unified dislike against a new driver before.
Neil (@neilosjames)
1st March 2018, 17:02
Sirotkin-bashing? Oh deary me… there is indeed someone putting stuff into other peoples’ mouths, but it’s not me.
The article and the quotes provided indicate that what I said is true – that he believed he had a chance of getting the Renault race seat. I didn’t even provide a hint of my views towards him (which are actually quite neutral. Better than he used to be, let’s see what he can do, etc).
You’re right that he seems to be quite unpopular, though. Shouldn’t be surprising – the combination of pay driver and ‘guy who blocked Kubica’ was never going to go down well.
TFLB (@tflb)
1st March 2018, 17:26
Sorry but your comment did have a negative tone, and you did indeed put words into his mouth. He never said he expected the drive.
dusty (@dusty)
1st March 2018, 17:52
Copy/paste from the article:
” And at some point when you start to realise that it’s not really going the way you expected it to be going it’s definitely not the best feeling, to be honest.”
TFLB (@tflb)
1st March 2018, 20:43
@dusty I read that as him finding it more difficult than he expected to spend a year not racing but could be wrong.
TFLB (@tflb)
1st March 2018, 17:27
Sorry but your comment did have a negative tone, and you did indeed put words in his mouth. He never said he expected the drive.
anon
1st March 2018, 17:43
@neilosjames, I’d say that most of the spite comes from those who dislike the fact that he isn’t Kubica, and some of those who have obsessed over the idea of Kubica returning to F1 are rather bitter about that fact. Being Russian in the current climate probably doesn’t help either – some of the comments against him have had an undertone of Russophobia in them, and I wonder if he’d be so harshly treated if he was a different nationality.
I do think that he is being rather harshly treated though – Mark Hughes did note in his column for Motorsport Magazine that Sirotkin was known to be a quite hard working driver, and he does seem to be living up to that reputation. He’s moved into Abingdon so he can be as close as he could get to Williams’s factory, and he’s been working every single day at the factory to learn as much as possible (before he then goes home to do his fitness training in the evenings) – it does not sound as if he is coasting into the sport due to his money, but is determined to prove that he does deserve to be there on merit.
TFLB (@tflb)
1st March 2018, 20:45
This, 100%. The teams he’s worked with seem to have nothing but positive things to say but ‘fans’ seem to have it in for him for not being Kubica, which isn’t really his fault at all.
socksolid (@socksolid)
1st March 2018, 17:57
Yeah, wonder why that is…
TFLB (@tflb)
1st March 2018, 20:44
@socksolid I don’t know, why?
Ben
1st March 2018, 19:02
They did have Palmer before him
Krommenaas (@krommenaas)
1st March 2018, 19:31
Well, Renault gave Palmer a second year so it’s not like that had high performance standards.
Matt
1st March 2018, 20:51
I think that is a little unfair, I think what he means is that as a member of the team, a development driver, he might have been some way up the queue to filling in for Palmer when they gave him the flick, instead they gave it to an outsider.
I don´t think that is unreasonable to be honest, seems like a perfectly human reaction.