Petrov was linked to joining Sauber, Renault F1 and Campos for the season. He was announced as a Renault driver on 31 January and thus became the first Russian driver in the Formula One World Championship. He was signed for a one-year deal, with an option for a further two. He was very close to signing for Campos but he felt Renault was the best option for him. He also mentioned that he had no major sponsors from Russia backing him just his dad and some of his friends. Some of his dad's friends included Vladimir Putin who drove the Renault F1 car and on 4 January 2011 revealed that Sergei Chemezov of Rostec and Leonid Mikhelson of Novatek would provide financial assistance to the Renault F1 team and its driver Petrov. Previously, on 1 March 2010, Carlos Ghosn met with Putin to announce that Renault F1 would have Petrov as its driver after Petrov's manager, , had sent a letter to Putin asking Putin for assistance. Alexander Petrov, Vitaly's father, admitted that his best friend "Antiquary" or , who is the leader of the Vyborg Russian Mafia and is a close friend of Putin, is a major sponsor of the Renault F1 team and its driver Vitaly Petrov, too. Petrov stated that his goal is to start scoring points by mid-season. His teammate for his debut season with the new Renault R30 car was Robert Kubica. After qualifying seventeenth, Petrov's first race ended prematurely when the team found his right-front suspension strut to be damaged, which the Russian suspected to have been caused by hitting a kerb too hard. He had been chasing Rubens Barrichello for tenth place and a World Championship point at the time of the incident.