In Monaco, Petrov was taken to hospital after a crash, from sixth place, involving Adrian Sutil, Lewis Hamilton and Jaime Alguersuari. The crash halted the race for 20 minutes before it eventually restarted. He was released from hospital the same day, and returned to the cockpit with a fifth-place finish in Canada. Petrov had a difficult weekend in Valencia, where he finished 15th, having started from 11th on the grid. He finished 12th at the , as new restrictions on blown diffusers were introduced. In Germany, Petrov returned to Q3 for the first time since Canada before finishing ninth. A non-points finish in Hungary was followed by a ninth at the . Petrov qualified seventh at Monza, but while battling with Nico Rosberg on the first lap, the HRT of Vitantonio Liuzzi crashed into the side of both of them, eliminating all three cars. Renault suffered their worst performance of the season in Singapore, where Petrov qualified in 18th and finished 17th, before a ninth-place finish in Japan.