Saturday 18 February 2012

Petrov to replace Trulli at Caterham

Vitaly Petrov is replacing Jarno Trulli at Caterham in a last minute move.

Russian Vitaly Petrov is back in Formula One after it was announced he is replacing Jarno Trulli at Caterham in a last minute driver change for the Norfolk team. Trulli was under contract with the team but has being replaced after a very disappointing 2011.

Petrov in his new team gear
 Petrov joins Caterham after two years at Renault, now called Lotus, in which his best finish was third at the 2011 Australian Grand Prix. He will partner Finn Heikki Kovalainen in the team. Petrov said of the move "This is a very exciting day for me. I have been training hard all winter and am ready to get back into the cockpit and go to work. From what I have seen already, our new car is another good step forward from 2011 and now I cannot wait to see how it feels when we get to Barcelona." Petrov, 27, was dropped by Renault at the end of 2011 and replaced by Romain Grosjean. The rumours of a swap with Trulli have being circulating for a long time, but it seemed that it wouldn't happen, particularly when Trulli took part in pre-season testing last week at Jerez. The team stated he had replaced Trulli with "immediate effect." Team Principal Tony Fernandes said: "We are all delighted to welcome Vitaly into our team and are very excited about the role he will play in helping us take the next steps forward in 2012 and for many years to come. When we first met it was immediately clear that Vitaly understands and shares our vision for how we want our team to grow. As the first Russian to race in F1 he carries the hopes of a huge nation with ease and his talents, experience with one of our current competitors and insights on and off track will play a huge role in our development as we fight to join the established teams ahead."

This news now means that Trulli has lost his seat in F1. He has being with Caterham, formerly Lotus Racing and Team Lotus, since they started up in 2010, but endured two years where he was comprehensively beaten by team mate Heikki Kovalainen.

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