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Russia's first Formula One driver Vitaly Petrov has come to the sport with massive financial backing. However, it shouldn't be forgotten that by finishing runner-up in the GP2 Series in 2009, he has completed the same rite of passage as Lewis Hamilton, Heikki Kovalainen and Bruno Senna.

After skipping karting he cut his teeth in Russia's Lada Cup and winning the championship in 2002, taking victory at every race. He then spent two years racing Formula Renault in Europe, he spread his time between a number of different national championships, and failed to make a mark in any one of them. A return to Russia followed where he won the Formula 1600 Russia title in 2005, taking five victories and kick-starting his career again.

A four year assault on GP2 followed, starting with a handful of races in 2006 before a full season in 2007 when he took his first race win. Driving for Campos, he took another victory in 2008 on his way to a seventh place finish overall behind Bruno Senna and Romain Grosjean. 2009 proved to be his breakthrough year as he regularly scored points, taking seven podiums, two race victories and finishing second overall in the championship. In the final standings he was a massive 25 points off Williams driver Nico Hulkenberg but ahead of Virgin Racing's Lucas di Grassi.

With Russia plastered across his car as sponsorship in GP2, he claims his funding is a mix of his father's money and backing from family friends. However, Renault team principal Eric Boullier has said that he was in talks with drivers with more money than Petrov, but wanted to employ someone with the right level of skill and experience. All Petrov has to do now is prove his boss right, which could be easier said than done with F1 race-winner Robert Kubica as his team-mate.

Strengths and weaknesses
He proved he was a consistent point's finisher in GP2 in 2009, even if he only won two races. But he still lacks a championship victory outside his native country on his CV.

Career high
Second place in the 2009 GP2 Series was the result of three seasons of slowly working his way up the grid. His win on the street circuit at Valencia was his most impressive as he held off championship winner Nico Hulkenberg throughout the race to take victory by just 0.396s.

Career Low
Returning to Russia in 2005 after failing to make a mark in Formula Renault in Europe.

Quotes
"The people in Russia, they must wake up to what has happened here because we are in F1 without any sponsorship and any help. My father has given me the money to be here. It's just him, my manager and my father's friends. No-one else."

Renault boss Eric Boullier on signing Petrov: "The choice for Vitaly was clearly because he has the speed. Definitely there is a risk because he is a young driver, but we had also to think in this process about the team for the future."

Trivia
Petrov first drove a Lada Zhiguli off-road when he was five, before his father paid for driving lessons.