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Renault managing director Cyril Abiteboul has expressed his delight in seeing Sergey Sirotkin and Robert Kubica's F1 careers take a boost. On Tuesday, Williams announced that it had signed Sirotkin to a 2018 race seat, partnering Lance Stroll.
In 2016, Sirotkin joined Renault as its development driver, going on to become the squad's reserve driver for the 2017 season. After a number of FP1 outings, Williams brought him to Abu Dhabi for a post-season test, where he was up against a resurging Kubica.
Kubica raced in 2009 and 2010 for Renault and had a number of tests throughout 2017 with the team. With the Pole landing the role of reserve driver for Williams, Abiteboul admits he is very happy to see the duo move up the rankings.
"We had some connection to the two possible options Robert and Sergey from 2017," Abiteboul stated at the Renault Sport Academy launch on Monday. "I’m happy to see drivers we had connections with," he said. "And those that we contributed to raising their profile and raising their skills.
"For Sergey, it shows Renault can influence the life of a driver and then if they can make it into Formula 1," he added. "We were very impressed as a team by his ability to understand the car and the dynamics of the car," he said. "He certainly has the knowledge and in my opinion also the talent."
That sounds like good news regarding Sirotkin. I had no idea he’d been through Renault hands. So, did they reject him as a team driver, what?
I think the hype died off around Sirotkin because he stopped winning. He hasn't won a championship in any category since 2011. He had a decent run in GP2 but nothing spectacular. If anything, his credentials are similar to those of Felipe Nasr or Joylon Palmer. I hope he surprises everyone, but we can't draw conclusions from his less-than-stellar record.
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calle.itw
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Well yes, he has been test driving for them and other F1 teams on several occasions. Many regarded him as a decent candidate for F1, but then the fuss about him died out during the more recent years.