GreenBkk Formula 1 | Petrov urged to move to England

Petrov urged to move to England

Renault, or Lotus Renault if you like, insist Vitaly Petrov remain their "preferred choice" for next season, but also believe the Russian should move to England if he wants to be more successful.

The Enstone-based outfit confirmed Robert Kubica for the 2011 season several months ago, but Petrov's with the team future remains uncertain following a mediocre debut campaign during which he picked up only 27 points.

Gerard Lopez, co-owner of the team, says team boss Eric Boullier and the engineers will first sit down with Petrov before they make a decision.

"Our preferred choice at this stage is to continue with Vitaly, but he has to sit down with us," Lopez told Autosport.

"Vitaly was having an operation last week, so he didn't have time to sit down with [team principal] Eric Boullier and the engineers.

"The situation is that we will make the decision based on that discussion with Vitaly and his understanding of what it means if he stays at the team.

"Our expectation is that he can do what he did in Hungary or Abu Dhabi more consistently. We know that he has got the speed, but we also know that he sometimes lacks the focus to deliver on a full weekend. If we stay with Vitaly, he has to be able to do that more consistently."

Besides consistency, Lopez also believes it will be important for Petrov to move to England.

"I have always said that my preferred choice would be to keep Vitaly in the car," Lopez told Reuters.

"I think the discussion to be had with Vitaly is not one about speed - our engineers tell us that he sure has the speed to compete.

"What he doesn't show in a consistent way is the capacity to focus on a complete weekend and deliver from first practice to the end of the race on Sunday. And that's what we have to discuss with him.

"Part of the discussion is that he needs to accept a certain change in life, he needs to accept to move to the UK and be close to the factory.

"He needs to accept to be in an English-speaking environment all the time and if he accepts those things, and if we believe that through those things he can deliver consistency, then there's no question about who is going to be our second driver."

Credit: PlanetF1.com (www.planetf1.com)