Vitaly Aleksandrovich Petrov (Russian: Вита́лий Алекса́ндрович Петро́в, IPA: [vʲɪˈtalʲɪ ɐlʲɪkˈsandrəvʲɪtɕ pʲɪˈtrof], born 8 September 1984) is a Russian racing driver who drove in Formula One for Renault F1 Team in 2010, Lotus Renault GP in 2011 and Caterham F1 Team in 2012. Born in Vyborg, he is known as the "Vyborg Rocket" (Russian: Вы́боргская Раке́та, IPA: [ˈvibɔrɡskɐjɐ rɐˈkʲetɐ]) in Russia. He was the first Russian to compete in the Formula One World Championship.

Early career

Unlike most top drivers, Petrov did not begin his career in karting, as there was very little motorsport where he lived. He began competing in motorsport in 1998, when he took part in rally sprints and ice races. Afterwards he began competing in the Russian Lada Cup in 2001. He remained in the series for 2002 dominating the championship, winning each round to amass the maximum points total of 500.In 2003, Petrov began racing in the Formula Renault championships. His main campaign was in the Italian Formula Renault Championship for Euronova Racing, finishing 19th overall. During the year he competed in several rounds of the Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0, the Formula Renault 2.0 UK series, and finished fourth in the British Formula Renault Winter Series at the end of the year, taking one win. He also made his debut in Euro Formula 3000 at Cagliari.In 2004, Petrov turned his attention to the inaugural season of the Russian Lada Revolution championship.