Vitaly Petrov, a 26-year-old born in Vyborg, close to St Petersburg, became the first Russian driver in F1 last season when he landed a drive with the Renault squad as No. 2 to another Eastern European, Poland's Robert Kubica, the Age reports.
Yesterday was his coming of age as he took his first podium finish, driving a strong race to hold off a late challenge from two-time world champion Fernando Alonso to take third place.
It was the drive of a lifetime for Petrov, who had given an indication of his pace on Saturday evening when he qualified sixth, although few F1 analysts gave him much chance of bettering his starting place in the race itself. But Petrov drove like a seasoned professional, taking advantage of mistakes by others and moving up into fourth place and then third as the race unfolded.
Petrov expressed his sheer delight at his achievement yesterday. "I am [just] happy to be sitting here with these guys", he said, gesturing to Sebastian Vettel and Lewis Hamilton, the current and former world champions had finished in front of him, sitting alongside him.
Russkiy Mir Foundation Information Service
