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Wise old heads can sometimes take a battering, but today there was a certain feeling of karma for Nick Heidfeld as his controversial replacement Bruno Senna faced a difficult opening to his Renault racing career. 

With Heidfeld proceeding with a legal case against the loss of his drive, Senna had to "lead" the team in former number one Robert Kubica's continued absence. 

The events that preceded this choice were complex at best. Nick Heidfeld was never going to be the comfortable leader that Kubica was and Renault was naive to think so. However, he was certainly capable of having the advantage over his inexperienced team mate Vitaly Petrov. 

Whilst Heidfeld struggled in some Grand Prix the bigger picture showed he could edge his team mate in terms of points finishes and the strongest potential race pace. The only problem was where Petrov seemed improved but balanced throughout; Heidfeld appeared determined and highly able at some Grand Prix events, yet clumsy and mediocre at others. 

Bruno Senna's entrance at Spa caused us to question Renault's decision, until it emerged that he had a genuinely superior one lap pace. In qualifying, he planted his car in 7th and there was a sense of wondering as to whether he could produce a superb race result. Could he go ahead and prove all of the critics wrong?

Sadly his lack of competitive action shone through as a reckless late brake into the first corner resulted in Senna taking out Toro Rosso's Jaime Alguersuari and gaining himself a drive-through penalty as a consequence. 

Bruno stated that he had misjudged the braking zone, as he was not use to starting a race with such a heavy fuel load. For a driver use to opening in similar positions at the back of the pack you could understand the incident from a driver unfamiliar with a midfield battle. 

A poor opening could have been rectified though, with the safety car brought out after Hamilton and Kobayashi's collision. 

Senna had an opportunity to regain a points scoring finish if he could replicate his impressive qualifying performance. Yet he had no definitive race pace to do so and a 13th placed finish was accompanied by a fastest lap that was a full second slower than Petrov's. 

In hindsight, you can't help but feel that leaving Senna the second race seat for the remainder of the season may be a punishment too harsh for Heidfeld and a backward stepping decision from the Renault team. 

Heidfeld especially can be deemed unfortunate after his last exit from a race drive seemed unjust on a driver who was never poor at his time at BMW. He was not a race winner but he could perform and with the likes of Karun Chandhok gaining drives, the decision for no team to offer a seat seemed ludicrous. 

Maybe Bruno just needs time to develop into the sport in a competitive team. His first season at Hispania could never be remarkable due to the team's inability to produce an effective car.  

It was therefore hard to judge how well he could perform as the unpredictable reliability of the car mixed with poor handling meant that Bruno was fighting his machinery rather than showing extracting his full potential from it.

There was a feeling of disappointment that the team who gave him a birth into Formula 1 then wouldn't utilise his services further to attempt a climb up the field, instead opting for epic failure Narain Karthikeyan. 

At this moment in time I feel we can put Senna's uninspired race performance down to a nervy start which hampered the rest of his race. If he had started well and kept a grasp on his top ten position then he could of improved his overall race pace and got a promising result. 

Heidfeld may reclaim his position within the team in the aftermath of his legal proceedings and to be honest he would be fair to do so. There are no hard feelings between Heidfeld and Senna as they understand that these things happen in the sport. 

Yet the team has been brutal on a driver simply because he cannot match up to a team mate who comprehensively beat him in their last season at BMW. They set the expectations too high. 

The saving grace from all of this appears to be that we now have some idea of what Bruno Senna is about and what he is truly capable of. Maybe he just will follow in his famous uncle's footsteps and build a legacy of his very own. 

It was such a promising start to the 2011 season for Lotus Renault.

Vitaly Petrov drove a fine race to finish on the podium in Australia, beating world-class veterans such as Fernando Alonso, Mark Webber and Jenson Button. Two weeks later in Malaysia, it was Nick Heidfeld’s turn to take to the podium with a third place finish in Sepang. It did seem that life could go on without the injured Robert Kubica. 

However, it’s fair to say the team has slumped in previous races. There have been no podiums since the opening two rounds of the season and it is clear the team has fallen behind in terms of performance. At one stage they appeared to have a car with potential to challenge the leading three teams of Red Bull, Ferrari and McLaren. But now the realistic battle is in the midfield with Mercedes, Sauber and Force India.

Petrov has improved greatly this year and Heidfeld does bring experience. But the team really is missing the world-class touch of Kubica. When he's on, Kubica can beat anyone, or at least mix-in with the best—as shown numerous times last season (such as his fantastic qualifying in Monaco where he split the Red Bulls and his second place in Australia).

The Pole has the ability to lead a team with passion and enthusiasm—a factor missing from the Renault team this season ever since Kubica’s huge accident back at the start of the year.

In terms of Kubica’s injury, it seems he won’t be returning to action this season, but instead is aiming for a 2012 return. Speaking to the Renault website, Kubica said: “It is still too early to have a clear picture for the timing of my return, but the important thing is the final outcome, not the hurry.”

Most importantly, Kubica is well on his way to recovery. Whilst it was thought after his accident that he might not ever race again, it seems he should be okay in time for next season. For now though, Renault must stick with Petrov and Heidfeld. Petrov’s fifth in Canada and some consistent points from Heidfeld show promise to a decent end to the season for the Enstone team. 

Renault say they have upgrades planned in the upcoming races, so there should be a performance increase. But the real shame about Kubica’s injury is that we will never see what he could have done with this year's car. Formula One has sorely missed Kubica this season, so let's hope he is back to his best in 2012. 

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Few people in Formula One expected Vitaly Petrov to be retained by the Renault team for 2011. Vastly out performed by Robert Kubica, error prone and overly scrutinised many people blamed the young Russian for Renault’s failure to clinch fourth position in the 2010 constructor’s championship. Team principle Eric Boullier conceded that keeping Petrov was a massive gamble.

It is surprising that Petrov has penned a two-year contract with the Lotus Renault team given that they continue to doubt his credentials. When the 26-year-old Russian qualified in sixth position for the 2011 season opener, team boss Eric Boullier was asked how well Kubica would have done instead.

The Frenchman replied, “I don’t want to guess, as I don’t want to be more frustrated.” This is a clear example of disrespect towards the Russian from the media, and a lack of faith being displayed by his team. A podium finish later, it’s time Renault backed Petrov out right.

Although Petrov’s maiden season may have been marginally below par it needs to go on record that his Polish team mate put the Renault in positions it had no right to be in. Kubica comprehensively outperformed the car; an achievement that granted Vitaly no favours.

Petrov scored more points than any other rookie driver in the 2010 Formula One season, with the exception of Kamui Kobayashi who had two races experience heading into the season. The 27 points he amassed was five greater than Hulkenberg’s tally and a personal best race finish of fifth was superior to any other rookie, including Kobayashi.

He outperformed Vitantonio Liuzzi and Pedro De La Rosa, two drivers who arguably should have finished above him given the performances of their team mates. Although it is reasonable to compare Petrov to his team mate, surely it is only fair to look at his achievements in context with other drivers with the same amount of experience?

Despite such efforts however it should go on record that Kubica outperformed him by more than 100 points—achieving three podiums and a total of seven top-five finishes compared to Petrov’s one. A comprehensive thrashing by anyone’s standards, granted, but the Russians season from the German Grand Prix onwards is enough to justify his position in the Renault team.

Following his 10th placed finish at Hockenheim the Russian’s season was, on the whole, satisfactory. A hat trick of top-10 finishes at Germany, Hungary and Belgium provided a glimpse of his ability but the avoidable accident he caused at Japan and retirement in Korea, following an embarrassing crash, highlighted his inexperience.

It was never a lack of ability that hindered Petrov, more a lack of experience; both accidents in Asia occurred in difficult race conditions, situations he should be able to handle this year.

Petrov needed to show that he had the head and race craft to cope with the pressures of Formula One and he did so in style at the season finale in Abu Dhabi. The Russian put in a resilient drive to keep Alonso behind him for much of the race, thus costing the Spaniard a third world championship.

There are very few other drivers that are worthy of his race seat who are not in a team that is at least of equal repute before the season began. Hulkenberg is an obvious example of a driver unfortunate not to land a race seat but at Force India he will learn a lot as a test driver.

Adrian Sutil has shown that he is worthy of driving for a top team but why would he go to Lotus Renault and play second fiddle to Kubica when he can drive for Force India, a team that is making all the right developments, and have the car modeled to his driving style?

Heikki Kovalainen is certainly of a higher quality than his Team Lotus car and has connections with the Renault team but he opted to sign a contract with the team long before Petrov’s future was decided.

Of all the driver’s available to them Petrov was the best choice, and his performance in Australia has shown this. Prior to the start of the season he has taken great measures to acclimatise himself with the team, thus forming a good working relationship with many of his colleagues. Eric Boullier commented after the Australian Grand Prix.

"We spent a lot of time discussing with him and putting in place an environment to help him understand the English culture, let's say, and the culture of Formula One," Boullier said.

"We also had to help him improve his communication around his car, to find a way for him to deliver the message about improving his speed, but also for him to understand what the team were expecting.

"We had a commitment from him that he would make the move to get closer to what we were expecting, including the most physical in moving to England.”

Despite such praise however it seems unlikely that Lotus Renault will make him official team leader, not yet anyway.

"You can't give the title of team leader to a young guy who has only had one year in Formula One, and who started without having done a single mile," Boullier added.

"But if he takes this position then I'm happy, and if he keeps repeating the performances we saw on Sunday, to be honest I'll be more than happy."

Boullier’s conservative words show that Renault still do not have complete confidence in his ability. Indeed Boullier commented, "It was not an easy decision (to keep him) because I would have had no excuses if he had failed for a second year.”

The fact that he has done more to integrate himself with the team should create a more harmonious relationship in the garage. A more harmonious relationship will help Vitaly focus solely on his performance.

Petrov’s composed drive at Melbourne is certainly progress and without the pressure of having to match Kubica’s high standards this season he will be able to develop at his own place. In Nick Heidfeld he has an experienced team mate who will likely be a more potent force than he was at the opener, but will not outperform him in the way same way Kubica did last year.

The experience of Heidfeld may result in some knowledge rubbing off onto Petrov, which will in turn improve his race craft considerably. Furthermore, there is less of a gap in quality between the two drivers meaning the team will get a more accurate reading on how good Petrov truly is.

Now is the time for Petrov to shine, he is starting on a clean sheet. If the season opener is anything to go by, he looks set to continue his improvement and lead Renault to a considerable constructor’s championship position.

Source: http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/motor-racing/renault-chief-admits-retaining-vitaly-petrov-was-a-gamble-2257107.html

There are a number of big stories about the 2011 Melbourne F1 Grand Prix. One of the biggest is that Vitaly Petrov scored third place for Lotus-Renault, which also made him third in the driver's championship table because it was the first event of the year.

It was a moment of triumph for Petrov, who was often disparaged in 2010, and a moment for tears from his manager, Oksana Kosachenko. I point out here that there are differing spellings of Oksana's surname to be found, all are translations of the Russian Косаченко.

"I just can’t express my feelings with words: when I saw Vitaly on the podium, I burst into tears," she said, according to rt.com. "We’ve set very high standards in the very first race of the season: now we’ll have to try to keep it up during the whole championship. And I want to believe that we’ll be able to do it throughout the year."

Petrov has the lean and haunted look of a forest partisan, coupled with the doomed stare of a cosmonaut; it has been observed that he could play a movie zombie without any makeup. His manager, by contrast, has the cheerful wholesomeness of an ideal Soviet-era housewife.

In the absence of Anthony Hamilton, Oksana has become the most visible of driver managers, and she has a story to be told. It is a story of commitment, devotion and unstinting loyalty, backed by the formidable brain and personality contained in her tiny form.

Who is Oksana?

A Muscovite, Oksana graduated from Moscow State University with a PhD in Philology, and speaks four languages in addition to Russian. She worked briefly as a teacher of French,and then got a job at the International Division of the Komsomol (Communist Union of Youth) Central Committee, again utilising her language skills.

With the collapse of Russian communism, Oksana was out of a job. She worked for a short time in London, and then returned to Moscow to work for the new government for a couple of years before becoming personal assistant to Vladimir Yevtushenkov, the tycoon heading the Sistema conglomerate.

Through all of the above Oksana was involved with choreography and gymnastics at a very high level, attaining the title Candidate Master of Sports.

In 1993 Oksana and some partners started a PR/Marketing agency closely involved with TV and fashion. Note that up to this time she was not especially interested in motorsports, although she was aware of F1 to the extent of being a Nigel Mansell supporter. This all changed in 1998, when she became a race commentator for a TV station, although not on F1 because the commentary for that came from abroad, where the races took place.

As well as commentating, Oksana presented a two-hour show in which she interviewed drivers and others from the motor racing field. She also began writing on motorsports for various Russian publications. This lead her to feel that she needed direct experience of racing, so she entered the Russian Touring Car Championship, driving a factory VW Polo. Sadly, it cannot be reported that she won any races.

Meeting Vitaly

At an awards ceremony in 2001 Oksana was introduced to Vitaly Petrov, who was then just 16 years old but had built a formidable reputation in the Lada Cup, a Russian series. She became his manager, in addition to her numerous other business interests, and has steered him to his international breakthrough via Italian Formula Renault, the Lada-Revolution series, Formula 3000, and GP2.

With Renault, the French auto manufacturer, quitting F1 at the end of 2009, leaving its name with the team but not their money, the new owners were faced with a major financial challenge. This led to them effectively putting a price on a seat in their car, the price being €15 million.

Both Oksana and Petrov had a long association with Renault, and the lady saw a window of opportunity opening. If anyone wants to get snooty about "pay drivers," l remind them that financial inducements have been the route into F1 for many. Michael Schumacher's first F1 drive with Jordan was paid for, and he turned out to be reasonably capable.

Petrov had a good record in lower racing formats, but so did a lot of other drivers. Of course, those other drivers did not have Oksana behind them.

Oksana approached the Renault team with a proposal, and a 93-page contract was drawn up in English and Russian versions. A €7.5 million sum had to paid to the team for the start of 2010 season, with a balance of €7.5 million to be paid by the end of the year. Needless to say, Petrov did not sign any part of the contract, Oksana did.

Of course she did not have €7.5 million, so she set about fundraising. Trawling around the 500 biggest companies that had risen since Russia emerged from its communist coma, she drew blank after blank when she asked for sponsorship funds. But she persisted, presenting Petrov as the "golden key" to bringing F1 to Russia.

As we now know, Oksana got Petrov onto the grid for his difficult first season, and secured a two-year contract extension for him in December 2010. Looking back on Petrov's first F1 season, it is amusing how many print and internet writers (including Duncan Scott) were predicting his imminent exit from the sport; they reckoned without Oksana.

The future is always like a thick stew, you never know quite what's in it. So this writer will not make any rash predictions of a golden F1 future for Vitaly Petrov, but it is certain that without Oksana Kosachenko, the Russian would not be on the threshold of that future. She has been that important to him.

Oksana Quotes

Although rarely interviewed by the English-speaking media, Oksana certainly knows how to launch a verbal missile. Interviewed by sportsdaily.ru after Robert Kubica's nasty rallying accident, she said this (translated) of Lotus-Renault team boss Eric Bouyer, who is actually an old friend of hers:

"... he made an unforgivable mistake, allowing Kubica to take part in the rally. Of course, an accident could happen anywhere, even at home, but for Bouyer, hoping to lead the team to win prizes in season 2011, it will be a lesson: do not bet on just one pilot."

Of Nick Heidfeld, Kubica's temporary (possibly very temporary) replacement on the team, she said this (translated) before the Melbourne race:

"Heidfeld has no charisma, though he is smart, quick and technically literate, But he is not a locomotive, who will drag the team forward. He can not make it so that the team will work through the night for the sake of solving a problem. Nick on the tests proved to be a good idea, but what will happen in racing is unclear."

After the race, which saw Heidfeld finish in lowly 14th place, elevated to 12th after the Saubers were disqualified, she said this:

"Unfortunately, Vitaly’s teammate—Nick Heidfeld—could not achieve good results in Australia, but we hope that in future he will drive very fast."

Are you sure about that, Oksana?

Those who think Oksana Kosachenko is a very fine woman might like to know that her birthday is May 1st, and that she likes red roses and spaghetti. Nick Heidfeld may be interested to learn she is afraid of the dark and cockroaches.

With reflective and emotive banners proclaiming, "We miss you Robert," it would have been logical to expect complacency in the Renault camp before the start of the season.

Their second driver, Vitaly Petrov had signed a two-year extension to his contract, however, this was mainly seen as a financial decision and not a talent-based choice.

In fairness, the Russian was always doomed to appear weak in comparison to a driver regarded as one of, if not the best in the field. Sadly a freak rallying accident left Robert Kubica out of action, with his former BMW teammate Nick Heidfeld to take his place for the foreseeable future.

Early predictions involved the idea that Heidfeld could and would challenge for points and possible podiums. Petrov, on the other hand, just needed to kick his inconsistency into touch and attempt to build himself prolonged exposure and involvement within the sport. 

Relief came for Renault in qualifying for the Australian Grand Prix when surprisingly it was Petrov and not Heidfeld that went against expectation. He bolstered himself deep into the top-10 and placed himself sixth on the grid.

Heidfeld alternatively struggled to set the time sheets alight. Limited testing opportunities could be the reason and he will look to improve on this until Kubica's return.

From this positions the objectives were clear. Petrov was required to transfer his early promise into a result and Heidfeld would look to edge into the top-10 and a points-scoring finish. 

With an excellent start, Petrov thrust himself into fourth position, behind Vettel, Hamilton and Webber. His qualifying run then appeared to be no fluke as he sustained his pace and eventually found himself in a comfortable third place.  

Even with a late surge from Ferrari driver Fernando Alonso which echoed back to Abu Dhabi, the Russian performed to a level that will gain him mountains of praise.

Events may have been different if Kubica had taken his seat for the season opener. The gap between Petrov and the top two was beyond the Russian's efforts, but maybe Kubica could have challenged. He did, after all, finish second in Melbourne last season.

Yet, consequentially, the Renault team are at least for now in safe hands in Kubica's absence. If he were to return before the end of the season he can do so in order to build upon a successful opening innings.

This does in part depend on the capability of Heidfeld to edge himself into consistent points-scoring finishes. It also requires Petrov to insist upon keeping his superb start to the campaign.

There is no doubt that without Kubica, Petrov now has a chance to shine. He can gift us a vision of the supposed talents that earned him his position in the sports elite.  

His evidently embarrassing parking skills may leave a lot to be desired; his drive into Parc Ferme at the climax of the Grand Prix saw him misjudge the entrance and sit behind the top two and not at the side of them. But this rightfully went completely unnoticed amidst his heroics. It did give me a chuckle though.  

Now for the rest of the season we await to see what he can do next. One thing for sure is that Kubica will still be sorely missed, not by Renault, but by the racing world. At least Petrov's impressive performance eases the pain somewhat and goes some way into signalling a new and enhanced era for the Renault team.  

We always want the offseason to deliver us some sort of excitment to keep us going until March, but what we certainly don't want is news like that of Robert Kubica's recent rally crash in Italy. 

And a fairly horrific accident it was. 

The young pole was not far from the start of the Ronde di Andora rally when his Skoda collided into a church and finished up with a crash barrier, penetrating the driver's foot well. 

His co-driver escaped unharmed, but Robert sustained horrific injuries to his hand, which was partially severed, as well as fracturing his arm and his leg.

After several operations and some time spent in intensive care, all is starting to look well. But it was definately touch and go for a while and his career looked to be in serious jeopardy.

Sadly for the Renault man, his 2011 season looks all but over. The only good news, if we can really call it that under the circumstances, is for Nick Heidfeld, who's career has been somewhat of a roller coaster over the last twelve months or so. 

The German veteran has been pushed from BMW, to Mercedes test driver, to Pirelli test driver, to Sauber replacement driver, to having no drive at all?

I know that the last thing Heidfeld would have felt is glad about Kubica's crash, but his new seat at Renault has given him what is surely his last chance to shine?

He has a well established CV in Formula 1 with 172 completed races under his belt and after his blinding test drive in Jerez, where he finished top of the table by taking a tenth out of Alonso's fastest lap, he showed he more than still has the credentials.

The other thing very much on his side is that Renaults 2011 R31 is looking great. The R30 of last season was already showing serious promise in the hands of both Kubica and eventually Petrov, who could only manage half a second off Heidfeld's pace at the recent test.

Heidfeld has never really had a crack a championship winning car, although he came close until Schumacher decided to return to the game in 2010. Mercedes is very well where he might be right now and it would certainly have been a bitter pill to swallow being scuppered to, even then, what he could have looked at as his final chance.

So, can we now look at this man as a potential front runner this term? His determination is going to be absolutely boiling over and we know that Renault have taken titles in the past. 

Ok, winning the title might be a bit ambitious, but surely knowing what is at stake is going to make this man one to watch this season.

Part of me would love it to have been the old BMW partnership with Kubica in the other car, but surely if Heidfeld out-races his Russian teammate this season, that could very much be on the cards in 2012?

In other news, Pirelli have already said that they want the races to be two stop events, adding to that were required from the days of refueling.

So, with the first race drawing ever closer and speculation around who's going to be pulling the punches already flying around, what a season this is already turning out to be.

Whilst the sport of Formula 1 is a multi-million money making business the decision for Robert Kubica's replacement in my opinion should be based on morals rather than finances.

His rallying injury has destroyed his chances of making further advances toward Renault. A lot of talk has come from his potential replacement. Hispania's Bruno Senna and Toro Rosso's Vitantonio Liuzzi were two names outlined in the beginning.

Yet, to me, only one driver should be given the spot. Only one driver can do Kubica justice, not just in competitive terms, but also as a welcome throwback to the time when Kubica gained his current reputation.

That driver is Nick Heidfeld. For the duration of the 2007 season Kubica and Heidfeld tussled for number one status at BMW. Heidfeld had burst into the sport after dominating F3000 and Kubica had joined the sport a few years later to instant praise. 

The two seemed compatible, competitive and titillating as team mates at BMW. Few other teams at the time were composed of such enticing equality.

Sadly the inspiring partnership had to come to a close and when Kubica moved to Renault it was heartbreaking to see Heidfeld fade out of the sport after failing to land a drive.

Kubica had gotten stronger in 2008 and whilst Heidfeld continued to gain results he was being eclipsed. 

His return at Mercedes late on into 2010 was welcomed with open arms. And he reminded us of the reason he was elevated to the highest tier of the motor racing world.

Now he is the natural choice to cover for his former team mate.The likes of Senna and Luizzi are less likely to perform to the standard that Heidfeld could.

But also Heidfeld can take the place in what would be a poignant homage to the man who first began to outshine his own credentials. It seems to make sense this way. 

Heidfeld's early testing results for Renault hint at his potential and positive pace and determination. He has already topped the time sheets through a Renault test drive.  

It is left for Renault to make that all important choice and decide on Kubica's successor. The outcome is waiting on their words, but we all know who it should be.  

The headlines last season may have been dominated by the five-way battle for the Drivers Championship, but if the competition were based on pure talent, Robert Kubica would definitely have a shot.

As the season progressed, he out-drove the shortcomings of his mediocre Renault, and at one point, looked to be the best of the rest. Essentially, his points tally did not reflect the comparative individual performance he possessed.

Oddly, it was in the aftermath of his Canadian accident in 2007 when he began to prove himself. Whilst he did not follow the playboy stakes like Lewis Hamilton, he was regularly regarded as one of the greatest in the world.   

He consistently qualified on the first two rows of the grid and gained a fortunate, but deserved, debut triumph in his return to Montreal. 

This season, he was to continue with Renault in an attempt to continue the form that had transformed his career.

Some wondered why he remained at a team that was not giving the Pole a reflection of his raw pace. Others admired his decision to remain loyal and be determined to spearhead and evolve with the team. Based on his credentials, you could sense a follow up to Michael Schumacher's transformation of Bennetton in the mid '90s. 

For many, Kubica was a champion in waiting. Maybe he would have been if BMW continued to provide a decent machine in 2008. 

Yet now it may never happen. His rallying accident, leaving one of his arms partially severed, could put pay to that. He could be the new Felipe Massa. 

Such an obvious tragedy being born out of a life-threatening accident is being heralded as the worst possible outcome.

Hopefully, his recovery in the next few months can mirror the likes of Alessandro Zanardi, who continues to compete despite the loss of both legs. Kubica did, after all, gain much of his current status through his immediate revelation after his Canadian crash. 

This season, we'll see a driver replace Kubica, but there will be an evident void on the track in a way that can only devalue the overall quality of the field. The sooner Kubica returns the better. 

Robert Kubica’s horrendous injury caught many in the Formula 1 world off-guard. Not since Juan Pablo Montoya’s so-called "tennis" injury from a couple of years back has a driver been forced from the cockpit by an extra curricular activity.

I’m sure everyone has heard the disturbing details of Kubica’s injury, but don’t expect to read them here because I won’t link or write about them. When it comes to the full details of one’s medical condition, I’ve always felt that it was best to leave those with the victim and their family.

Kubica injured his hand, he’ll be out for a while, and we really don’t need to hear the paramedics or his rally co-driver talk about the gory specifics. And if you think otherwise, then I invite you to put yourself in his family’s shoes as they stroll in and out of the hospital gift shop (where Kubica rests), only to see newspapers stacked high to the ceiling detailing the worst of their son’s injuries by editors who are leveraging the drama of the situation to increase sales.

An injured driver is never easy to write about, and I do respect that this is something that needs to be done. But we also need to address the elephant in the room. When you’re in a situation like this, you need to start talking about substitutes.

With that said, there will be two Lotus-Renaults on the grid come Bahrain. Actually, if you believe Tony Fernandez, then there will actually be four. But that’s another column altogether.

It’s with the heaviest of hearts, and heaviest of keystrokes, that I examine Lotus-Renault’s best options to replace Kubica.

Nick Heidfeld: Heidfeld, is, and always will be, the unluckiest Grand Prix driver of the last 10 years or so. In the early 2000s he was destined to take the lead role at McLaren after Mika Hakkinen finally retired. He was brushed aside for some Fin named Kimi Raikkonen, and was forced to weed his way through a mix of mid-pack, and top teams (like Williams, BMW, and Jordan) who unfortunately, weren’t at the top of their game when Heidfeld was in their employ.

Forced from a race seat, he became MGP’s number three driver in 2010. Heidfeld quit that to become Pirelli’s official test driver, and then quit that to race the latter part of 2010 with BMW Sauber-Ferrari. As I noted in a past article, Heidfeld has spent a better part of the last few seasons in just about every Formula 1 car on the grid, and with almost every engine single under his right foot. His experience and most of all, his ability to adapt to unfamiliar machinery in a short period of time, would be a huge asset to the team.

Kimi Raikkonen: Speaking of Raikkonen, the man who was originally linked up to be Kubica’s teammate last fall looks likely to sub for the young polish driver—if you believe what the press says.

I don’t, because I don’t believe that Raikkonen will be back in Formula 1. Yes owners want him, but Raikkonen apparently wants to be paid as if he had just notched is second title.

He hasn’t been in a Formula 1 car for over a year, and even when he was in one the last time around he didn't seem to have the motivation to win as he did in his early days at McLaren. The only exception is Spa. If I were Renault, I would hire Raikkonen for Spa. He has a fantastic record there meaning that he will probably win, get the sponsors lots of press, and in the end Renault will only have to pay him a wage for a single race weekend.

Nico Hulkenburg: The biggest injustice of the off-season was that this young man could not land a competitive ride. Shut out of mid-pack race seats by ride buyers, and unable to get a fair shake from established teams because other driver contracts were already in place, the 2010 Brazilian Grand Prix pole sitter is has been relegated to third driver status with Force India.

Willy Webber—the same man who manages Michael Schumacher, manages Hulkenburg. As I write this, I’m sure Mr. Webber is ringing the powers-that-be at Renault to remind them of the magic that happens when a German is steering one of their engines. They need only to look to last season to see how a German-Francophone partnership bears fruit.

And if that doesn't satisfy them, then perhaps Lord Willy can throw in an old VHS tape of the Michael Schumacher’s 1995 season in the Benetton-Renault.

If it wasn't already obvious, Hulkenburg would be my pick to fill Kubica’s spot.

There are, of course, a couple of honourable mentions. Drivers who will throw their name in the ring and (hopefully) have little chance of getting the shot.

Bruno Senna comes to mind. I think he’s too inexperienced, and would be better served spending the year testing in a proper car. The problem is, with the new Lotus identity, the retro gold and black livery, many journalists would like to relive the golden Lotus age of yesteryear, when Bruno’s uncle the late, great, Ayrton Senna, raced for the team.

Happily, logic will triumph over the wet dreams of a handful of writers, and Senna should not be expected to get the drive. I’m not saying I don’t like him. I’m saying that partnering his inexperience with Vitaly Petrov’s lack of experience would be like the blind leading the blind.

I expect that before the dust settles on this debate, Jacques Villeneuve will have told anyone who will still listen that he is the best choice to replace Robert Kubica, having briefly (and unsuccessfully) raced for the team back in 2004.

But I would imagine that his argument wouldn't stop there. Villeneuve will probably remind everyone that Renault powered all of his 11 Formula 1 wins, along with his 1997 championship. And because this was back in the day when Formula 1 engines were 3 liters big, and had two more cylinders than they do now, that the transition for him would be relatively simple. Say, like going from a sport bike to a Vespa.

I realize the last part of my argument was a little facetious, but if it put a smile on your face in what is a rather dreary topic, than I’m happy to say that it did its job.

And if that doesn't bring a smile to your face, then perhaps this will. As I write this, it appears that Kubica's recovery is off to a promising start.

Bravo, Robert. Hope to see you before the season ends. 

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