Petrov hopeful of easier second season

Vitaly Petrov is hopeful he will enjoy a stronger second season in Formula 1 following a tough maiden campaign in 2010.

Petrov, the first Russian to race in Formula 1, was overshadowed by Renault team-mate Robert Kubica for most of the year as he tried to get to grips with the demands of grand prix racing.

Petrov secured a new two-year deal with the team, and he believes things will be easier for him this season.

"It's Formula 1, it's very difficult for a rookie," said Petrov on the main stage at AUTOSPORT International today.

"It was learning a lot, the tracks, the car, how in general a team in Formula 1 is working. I had a little bit of pressure, little bit of nerves but finally I found the solution for how to go and it's working so next season will be a little bit easier for me."

He added: "The Renault team gave me a proposal to drive and I'm really proud to be part of this team. Alonso won the championship with this team two times and I still believe we can do great things. At the moment I am staying on this team for two years. We will work hard and try to beat them."

The Russian rookie admitted he did not have the opportunity to learn much from Kubica because of the Pole's personality.

"If your team-mate is Robert you can't learn anything from him because he's always a closed person," he said. "You can only watch his data, how he's working, what he says to his engineer, that's it.

"So I didn't learn so much from him, but from his data how he was driving and the way he talked to his engineer."

And Petrov admitted the new rules coming into play this season will not help him, because he will have to continue to learn new things.

"Not really because it's again new for me, the rear wing, the tyres are the most challenging thing because nobody has driven with the new Pirelli tyres. For me it's a part of learning, now we have some testing days so I have time to learn."