Vitaly Petrov: Shanghai is not my favourite, but I have some good memories of it

Lotus Renault GP driver Vitaly Petrov looks ahead with optimism to the next stage in Shanghai, where he had scored his first points a year ago. He also added details on his exit from the Malaysian Grand Prix in an interview for his team’s pre-race press release.

Vitaly, a difficult end to a promising race in Sepang. What happened exactly?

I still don’t really know, but the car just started to understeer and I ran wider and wider on the exit of turn eight. Maybe my tyres were dirty or I picked up some rubber off-line. Then there was a big jump, which ended my race.

Despite the disappointment, you delivered another strong performance across the weekend. That must give you confidence for this weekend’s race in Shanghai?

Yes, I think we can have another good weekend. I feel very happy with the balance of the car at the moment. It’s easy to drive and I believe we will be competitive. Of course, there is still a lot of work to do and we must keep improving if we want to fight with the big teams.

Do you enjoy the challenge of racing in Shanghai?

It’s not my favourite track, but I obviously have some good memories because I scored my first points there last year. As we saw in Malaysia, you really don’t know what to expect from the tyres and you also have to remember that the DRS will probably have a big impact there, as it did in Sepang.