Vitaly Petrov's status with Lotus Renault GP for 2012 is up in the air. (Photo: AFP/Getty Images)

Petrov Has 'Plan B And C' For 2012 - Manager: Vitaly Petrov's manager has devised a "plan B and plan C" in the event the Russian has already raced his last Grand Prix with Renault/Lotus. Petrov has a valid contract for next season, but his manager Oksana Kosachenko rushed to Enstone this week for urgent talks, revealing that it is possible the 27-year-old is set to leave the team. "We have a meeting to decide what we do, whether we stay or not," she is quoted by Auto Motor und Sport, confirming there is a "plan B and plan C." The report said new GP2 champion Romain Grosjean is the frontrunner to be Kimi Raikkonen's teammate in 2012, with a return to the team next year for Robert Kubica considered unlikely. Team boss Eric Boullier insisted: "We are committed to Kimi. The second driver, we will confirm when we are ready."

Female Driver De Villota Close To 2012 Renault/Lotus Deal: Female Spanish driver Maria de Villota has revealed she is close to signing a contract to become third driver for the Renault/Lotus team in 2012. At an event on Wednesday, the 31-year-old was quoted as saying she expected to put pen to paper "later this year or early next year." She said the role is to be the "Friday or the replacement driver" at Grands Prix, acknowledging that her work will be "focused towards 2013," when she hopes to "be on the grid. ... We have all the pieces, all that remains is to fit them together during a day for some simple negotiating points," de Villota is quoted by Europa Press. She said: "There are many women who can drive well and so it is important to try to open the way for others to see that it is not something so unusual." De Villota, whose father Emilio de Villota raced in F1 in the '70s and '80s, was a team guest at Interlagos last weekend.

F1 'Highly Profitable' For Engine Supplier Renault: French carmaker Renault is entirely happy with its involvement in Formula One, despite its name finally disappearing from the teams' entry list for 2012. The marque is now purely an engine supplier, with a close relationship with World Champions Red Bull and 'customer' deals in place for 2012 with Lotus, Williams and Caterham. Renault SA's commitment as a full works team began to waver two years ago, but new chief operating officer Carlos Tavares now insists F1 is "highly profitable" for the manufacturer. "It costs us a net investment amount of two digits (in millions of euros)," he is quoted as saying by the French website 20minutes.fr. "A long time ago I gave up the idea of making calculations on the profitability of F1, because this is an investment that is highly profitable." Tavares also said he is happy with F1's new direction for 2014, with the current V8s being replaced by turbo V6 engines.

Villeneuve Turned Down Late Wheldon's Indy Drive: Jacques Villeneuve has revealed he turned down the chance to contest the 2011 IndyCar season finale because he considered it too dangerous. Ultimately, it was the late Dan Wheldon who accepted the series' offer to charge for $5 million in prize-money. Villeneuve, the 1997 World Champion who before switching to F1 was an IndyCar champion and Indy 500 winner, told Auto Motor und Sport he turned down the offer to race at Las Vegas. Referring to Wheldon's death, Villeneuve said he turned down the drive "precisely for this reason. If there are 34 people on a small oval then there are always going to be a couple of spinners, or rookies who are going to cause an accident. I have nothing against risk, but that one was too big for me," the French Canadian said on his visit last weekend to Interlagos. "I know what it feels like to fly into a wall at 300."