The Renault Formula One team have defended their decision to sign Vitaly Petrov in one of their race seats for 2010, claiming that the move was not motivated by simple financial reasons, but instead by the Russian driver's performance.
According to reports, Petrov will bring up to 20 million Euros in sponsorship money through deals with Moscow banking giant Sberbank and Russian oil company Gazprom, and Renault are known to be short on funds for 2010 after the loss of key sponsors.
But despite the money Petrov has brought to the team, Renault's management has insisted that they chose him for his driving talent ahead of other, more well-backed, rivals.
"We actually had drivers that could have brought about twice the amount that Vitaly is bringing," Lopez claimed at the launch of Renault's new R30 car at Valencia, "So the choice was really made number one because of personal performance.
"The second thing I would like to say about that, when people talk about numbers, the fact is that someone like Vitaly can bring directly something like seven percent of the budget. That's not going to make this team wane or survive or something like that."
He added that although the team was still in need of a title sponsor, with ING having left the team last season, negotiations were continuing with a number of companies, and on the subject of how much of the team's budget for the season was in place, Lopez somewhat specifically said that: "I am pretty good with numbers so I'd say something like 83%. So a large amount."
Eric Boullier, the Renault team principal, added that he felt it was important that the team invested in a young driver, and that said drivers subsequent investment in them was irrelevant.
"We just put it simply: either we go for an experienced driver which, on paper, may help to bring back some points for the championship - which is very crucial. Or we go for a young driver," Boullier explained, "One of the things that we wanted was to have a driver with strong sporting results. This is why Petrov was on the list.
"Obviously going through every criteria that we wanted, we had to decide at one stage, and quite late honestly – experience or gambling on youth? The choice for Vitaly was clearly because he has the speed, we believe he has the speed and can do well.
"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."
Petrov finished second in the GP2 Series last year behind new Williams man Nico Hulkenburg, after winning two races.
Boullier did admit that the use of Petrov's Russian nationality in identifying new sponsor and commercial possibilities was a factor in their decision. Petrov will become the first ever Russian F1 driver when he makes his debut at the Bahrain GP in March,
"Strategically, he is Russian," Boullier cleverly worked out, "Which can open up a lot of new perspectives for Formula 1 – and not just Renault – for the future. That is part of the process to bring back the team to be head down and successful."
Meanwhile, Petrov himself rather modestly suggested that he hoped his arrival in F1 would help in efforts to get a Russian Grand Prix on the calendar in the future
"When I was driving in GP2 I always tried to get the TV and newspapers to say 'come on, we're Russia, we're a big country, we must have a Formula 1 grand prix. It has to be,'" Petrov explained, "So now I'm here maybe they'll wake up and try to do something."
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