Renault team boss Eric Boullier has revealed that he is in no rush to sign a second driver to the team.
Renault is scheduled to launch their 2010 F1 car on 29th January, the day before testing starts in Valencia. However Boullier has said that he may not have a signed a second driver by this date.
“Robert Kubica will drive in Valencia,” Boullier commented to ESPNF1.
“He has been working with the team and was here last week for a seat fitting. He is ready to run. It would have been more convenient to have signed both drivers before the start of testing, but I am under no pressure to decide.
“Robert is more than capable of carrying out the initial shake down work.”
There are strong rumours that Petrov may be signed to the team because of the sponsorship money he will bring, however Boullier has commented that he is not the richest driver they are talking to – for example he came second in the GP2 championship to Nico Hulkenberg.
He has also said that he is in talks with many different drivers and that no deals have yet been made. The drivers whom Renault have talked to about the second race seat are Nick Heidfeld, Takuma Sato, Christian Klien, Romain Grosjean as well as Vitaly Petrov.
