Petrov draws Russian sponsor to Renault

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Renault has announced a second Russian sponsor has joined their roster

The logo of Vyborg Shipyard JSC will appear on the R30 for the rest of the season.

The team acknowledged the presence of Vitaly Petrov, Russia’s first F1 driver, helped land the deal:

This marks the team’s second partnership with a Russian company in 2010, following the agreement with Lada, whose logos have featured on the team’s cars throughout the season. Both companies have been attracted to the team by Vitaly Petrov’s promising debut season as Russia’s first ever F1 driver.

Vitaly has registered four points-scoring finishes so far in 2010, including a best finish of fifth at the Hungarian Grand Prix – the strongest result for a rookie driver this year

Renault has added a string of sponsors this year including Lada, Trina Solar, EFG International, RCI Banque, Mov’it, HP and Snoras. Petrov does not have a deal with the team for 2011.

It’s a far cry from their situation ahead of last year’s Singapore Grand Prix when ING and Mutua Madrilena ended their sponsorship of the team early following the revelations over race-fixing at the event in 2008.

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Keith Collantine
Lifelong motor sport fan Keith set up RaceFans in 2005 - when it was originally called F1 Fanatic. Having previously worked as a motoring...

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54 comments on “Petrov draws Russian sponsor to Renault”

  1. I predict the very immediate future of this thread will involve people commenting on the timing of this sponsor joining Renault, what with rumours of Kimi Raikkonen returning to Formula 1 in 2011.

    1. Sound_Of_Madness (@)
      21st September 2010, 14:30

      But the timing of the sponsor is such, that such comments are coming to mind! In fact I was ready to comment that the possibilities of Petrov staying have slightly increased!

    2. Another major sponsor must be worth what, about .3 of a second? Give or take?

  2. well that’s the end of kimi raikkonen’s career

    1. Honestly, I don’t think there was much substance to it to begin with. A lot of the talk was exacerbated by the media and fans who wanted it to happen. I’ve found it’s a common theme that when fans catch onto a piece of information that they’d think would be good for the sport – no matter how remote a possibility of it happening it may be – they tend to believe it. Fernando Alonso was widely believed to have signed on with Ferrari for 2010 at the 2009 Bahrain Grand Prix because Luca di Montezemolo walked past him on the grid.

      The biggest hurdle to Raikkonen joining Renault is Lada. Yes, you read that right. Lada is heavily subsidised by the Russian government, and part of the deal to sponsor Renault was that Renault would buy 25% of parent company AvtoVAZ in a bid to improve Lada’s international image. That’s a long-term deal, and not one that is going to be easy to get out of. It’s not as simple as offloading Petrov to someone like Lotus and keeping the Lada sponsorship; the deal seems to depend on Vitaly Petrov driving a Renault.

    2. Kimi will bring a lot more sponsors than Petrov.

      1. Sponsors? What sponsors? He didn’t bring any to Sauber or to McLaren or to Ferrari, so why should he bring any to Renault? And he’s not exactly the most affable person, as Keith pointed out below with this article:

        https://www.racefans.net/2009/05/07/being-kimi-raikkonen/

        Why would any company agree to sponsor a man who has no interest in promoting them?

        1. Seems like he could at least bring in Ben And Jerry’s, Sealy, and Smirnoff…

        2. Mastercard is supposed to think about becoming the title sponsor if Raikkonen is signed alongside Kubica.

          No title sponsor is going to pay a ton of money for a midfield team that needs to sign “sponsor driver” to fill the budget.

          If Renault wants to play with the big boys they need 2 top drivers.

          Not one driver scoring all the points while the other shows maybe a nice overtake once in a while.

          1. Mastercard have denied any involvement with Formula 1.

          2. Thought you don’t listen to what Joe Saward has to say?

          3. But they will pay for the team that has Kubica, +, Petrov will no doubt improve, and thus be able to fully support Kubica.

            “If Renault wants to play with the big boys they need 2 top drivers.”
            They also need a lot of money, Petrov brings that, Kimi, bless him, brings a big red hole in the accounts that is his salary.

            I’d love Kimi back, but he doesn’t want it enough to make himself attractive, and that’s all there is too it.

        3. Because he is a true racer. He wants to race. He doesn’t want to be talking to men holding audio-receptive cylindrical devices. A sponsor should be interested in brand exposure. This is achieved by good drivers in good cars. Not behind a microphone.
          But that’s just my opinion. And I’m a strange fellow.

      2. Kimi doesn’t have many personal sponsors at present. One is a local Finnish mobile operator. It’s kind of sad to see his face on big cardboard cutouts in front of these little dinky kiosks. It’s a far cry from the days when he did Fiat commercials with Schumacher.

    3. It is only until the end of the year, which might suggest the opposite.

      If they signed for two years, that would have pretty much confirmed Petrov for Renault next year

      1. exactly! just my words (:

  3. With clairvoyant skills like that you’d think Pironser Monkeys would be doing better in the Predictions Championship.

    1. I only entered in one round. I was actually doing quite well at the F1 Rejects predicitons contest until this year, largely because I keep putting Petrov in the top six. I have a bet with another forum member that Petrov will un-Reject-ify himself before Nico Hulkenberg and he only needs a sixth place to do it.

    2. Hahahaha, Keith’s comment should be comment of the day!

      1. Now THAT would be funny.

    3. Only one thing to say…Bazzinga!

    4. LOL, Nice comment Keith!

      But he is right about the comments.

      It does offer a nice explanation as of why Renault felt it wanted to inform everyone of Kimi being interested in the drive, as well as finely timed pressure on Petrov to do more to secure his drive.

  4. No word on how much the deal is worth? It’s an odd choice of sponsor, but I’d say it’s a pretty lucrative deal because Vyborg isn’t all that far from St. Petersburg and St. Petersburg is one of three main Russian ports allowing access to Western Europe. The others are near Rostov-on-Don, but really only gives access to the Mediterranean via Istanbul and the Bosphorus; the other is Kaliningrad, which is an exclave of Russia, so while it has sea access, it doesn’t have any land connections. So Vyborg Shipyards would be a major player in the Russian export market – most ships going from Russia to the eastern seaboard of the United States would be going out of St. Petersburg. Picture of the logo can be found here:

    http://vyborgshipyard.ru/

    Also, it’s worth nothing that Vyborg is Petrov’s home town.

    1. I liked your guess, except for one thing. Most of the ships built in Russia don’t run under Russian flag and don’t enter Russian ports either. So I imagine the shipyard owners are looking for foreign buyers for their tankers and dry cargo ships.

      Having said that, I would be much happier if Vitaly made a good fight for his Renault seat in the remaining races.

      1. I suppose this is about Petrovs connections opening doors for cooperation.

        From the pictures on the site the shipyard does some special ships for Norwegian companies, but otherwise is mostly into mining/drilling platforms.
        That means oil and gas, something one needs high level government contacts for i would expect.

        1. I personally, don’t see any signs of ministerial interest in it. Not even deputy secretary of any ministry is taking care of Vitaly’s future.

          Lada was a huge favor by Putin himself. But that’s it.

          What I’m really intrigued about, is Petrov’s agent – Kosachenko. She’s anything but a trivial lady. By the way, is she the only woman among drivers’ agents?

        2. It surely is… look at the member of the board… there is a nice picture of Petrovs father. So I wouldn’t call that attracting new sponsors, i rather call it asking for a favor from a family member…need I say more about their motivation in sponsoring Petrov…

          1. Nice one Anna! It is indeed his father Alexander.

            And I was wodering why the Vyborg Shipyard were sponsoring Vitaly earlier in his career…

          2. “need I say more about their motivation in sponsoring Petrov…”
            You need. His father is not CEO, but one of directors. And there have to be some serious arguments to convince others to sponsor your son. However, ties with Renault is attractive enough thing, I guess. Oh, and the company will build platforms for Shtokman field, where Total, major RF1 sponsor, is involved.

          3. I suppose the fact Petrovs dad is a director will have been a factor, but as Igorilla points out this might be exactly what Genii had in mind as a bussiness model.

            Getting together partners in bussiness through the sport with a view to common interests to work together. Good access to Total-managers will not be bad for bussines, and there might be some car transport ships (for Renault) or whatever in it for them as well as good contacts to the banks involved with the team.

  5. ohhhhhhhhhh shhhhhhhhiiiii……..
    petrov made renault happier by bringing sponsors,in return renault will make petrov the happiest by signing him for the next 2 seasons soon
    iam not a kimi fan,,,,but i awaited his return in renault for the exciting 2011 season,which now ended….

    1. Hang on, don’t go getting too far ahead of yourself.

      1) This deal is for five races. There are five races left in the championship. Vyborg Shipyard’s relationship with Renault in 2011 is open to speculation.

      2) We have no idea how serious Kimi Raikkonen was. You’re simply assuming that because Raikkonen showed interest in Renault, Renault were paving the way for him.

      I genuinely believe that Raikkonen would be a bad fit at Renault, and there are half a dozen drivers – Sutil, Glock, Kovalainen, Buemi, Kobayashi and Pastor Maldonado – that I would take before Raikkonen.

      1. I couldn’t agree less with your last paragraph. I think that Raikkonen would not only attract more sponsors than Petrov ever could, but he would together with Kubica be able to fight for a higher WCC position, which in return means more money again.

        Glock and Kovalainen are good options, and I agree with you there, but they’re neither the marketing machines Raikkonen is nor I feel are they as good as the Iceman. Buemi and Kobayashi are alright, but are worse than both Glock and Kovalainen. Maldonado is yet again another rookie. Sutil and Kubica in one team would be a poisonous relation I fear – the amount of times they have destroyed each other’s races is frightening.

        If we assume that Raikkonen genuinely wants to come back (which I believe, because Raikkonen must have realised that a switch from F1 to WRC is not a piece of cake), the whole Kimi vs. Petrov debate comes down to the question whether Petrov will be able to grasp enough points for Renault to overtake Mercedes. At the moment the question is whether any sponsors Petrov draws to Renault compensate for the loss of money resulting from a fifth position in the WCC, and whether Raikkonen would not be able to bring just as many sponsors to the table as well as score much more points – albeit for a higher salary.

        1. Kimi Raikkonen would not fit in well with Renault because of their relationship with Kubica. Kubica is very tight with them, and I can’t see him and Raikkonen being able to work together unless they had joined at the same time and Kubica had won the team over with his results.

          I also think Raikkonen would be very poor for PR since he absolutely loathes it and even asked for a reduction in PR hours to the bare minimum when trying to negotiate a 2010 contract. What company in their right mind would agree to sponsor someone who doesn’t want to promote them at all?

        2. Raikkonen would not only attract more sponsors than Petrov ever could

          Like who? Drivers tend to attract sponsors from their home countries and while Russia is clearly an emerging and potent market you can’t say the same of Finland.

          Plus you have to take into consideration that Raikkonen is notoriously reluctant to do sponsor and PR work. I’ve seen him doing PR work before and the last thing I’d call him is a “marketing machine”.

          1. You are both right that Raikkonen hates doing his PR job, but what makes him a ‘marketing machine’ is that he is recognisable. Petrov will only be able to get relatively minor sponsors, whereas what Renault is really lacking at the moment is a big title sponsor. Without that their championship hopes for next year are very bleak. Renault needs another ING in order to have the resources to fight for victories.

            If I were a big company I’d rather have Raikkonen than Petrov as the face smiling down from big billboards (Kubica is not suited to do that due to his lack of recognisability). Even if he hates signing autographs and doing all everything that is expected of him, I don’t think that if Raikkonen was to join Renault big sponsors would say ‘I wish I had ten times more commercials with young Petrov in them than I currently do with Raikkonen!’.

            Moreover, results attract sponsors as much as anything else. If Renault proved to be a front-running team again (and I cannot see that happening with Petrov as a second driver), companies would be willing to put their logo on a car that is driven by two drivers that are by most people regarded to be some of the best. Again, if such a car is driven by what might potentially be the third most known face (after Schumacher and Hamilton) in F1 today, I can see sponsors wanting to have Raikkonen as the figure that represents their products.

            Finally, in response to PM, I don’t think Kubica and Raikkonen would clash at all. Neither of them likes the spotlight, and unlike now, where Kubica cannot really rely on the second driver’s input, Raikkonen has loads of experience.

          2. Indeed. Raikkonen lands you a big paying title sponsor. Petrov lands you some pity money.

            It’s just the whole mindset that goes with it. No real top team runs with only one driver and another just for the cash.

      2. Depends whether you’ve got yourself a motivated Kimi, or a disinterested Kimi. Kubica has shown that a talented, experienced, motivated driver can do something with a Renault.

        Also, yup, don’t count your sponsors until they’ve paid. Next year is a different kettle of cucumbers altogether. ( sorry, I got rather excited with my mixed cliches :D )

  6. I hope he gets signed for next year personally, funded or not, I like his racing, he just needs better quali performance.

  7. I guess Petrov is trying everything to retain his 2011 drive. Personally, I haven’t been too impressed by Petrov. Although he has put in some good drives, more often than not he has made huge rookie errors.
    It would be great to see Kimi get back in F1, but I would honestly think that Kimi deserves a better team than Renault. A team that needs a stellar driver instead of sponsorships should take Kimi.

  8. You know I’ve changed my mind on this whole thing, I don’t care if Renault sign Petrov, because it’ll make them easier to take down in the fight next year. Especially if McLaren invent a better all rounder this time.

    Hah, I’m off to sulk, (sign sutil sign sutil sign sutil)

  9. Well Petrov will be staying at Renault for 2011 if those backers stay for next season,Kimi simply cannot bring in the sponsors and hates PR so even though he is a much better driver he will now have to stay in WRC.

  10. Get him a new haircut instead of the bowl cut style he has and he will attract more sponsors.

    I know you will hate me for that but personality is key to being a brand ambassador!

    1. Ahahaha! My girlfriend is no fan of his hair either.

  11. kimi can bring what no sponser can wins!!

    1. But I think he will ask more money from the team as his salary.

  12. If Petrov attracts more sponsor at the end of the season then I think Renault will think more about him other then Raikkonen.

    1. How much money do they lose because Petrov is not scoring points and he’s costing them 4th place in the WCC (where the money gets handed out)

      How much money do they lose because they can’t find a big title sponsor who would only get on board if they present themselves as a top team with 2 (reasonably) good drivers?

      If Renault is serious about its attempts to get back to a winning team then they cannot continue with “sponsor drivers”.

      1. Thing is, Renault saw this year with Petrov as an investment, so not really any points lost. And Petrov will be better next year.
        They did better than they expected maybe in this season that was a bit of a rebuilding year.

        I suppose the tie ins with Russia will not do Renault any harm in the bigger picture as well, more than just getting some sponsor money.

  13. Could it be (following with the Kimi stuff) That Kimi is typically asking too much, and this is Renault ermmm, putting on the pressure to for him to come to their terms?

  14. Personally, my theory on Kimi, is that he can’t handle bumpy roads… just a theory mind!

    1. A theory that works! Well, xxcept for his 5 podiums in Brazil, one of the bumpiest tracks on the calender…

      1. Brazil isn’t exactly a rally track now is it? Which is what I was alluding too.

  15. bumpy maby no snow or trees tho

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