F1: Renault to Petrov and Senna: Good luck and goodbye

The news about Kimi Raikkonen's return to F1 was buzzing around for some weeks with all kinds of rumours including that he may take a financial stake in Williams. They were all smoke-screens: with an eye on the publicity (sans results) that Mercedes got for hoiking an ageing Michael Schumacher out of retirement, Renault targeted the Finn, who has a huge following and who - unlike MS, has continued to race in his absence from F1.

The return of Kimi means that there will be six world champions on the grid for 2012.

Unlike MS, Raikkonen is unlikely to be outshone by his team-mate. Rosberg has consistently beaten Schumacher in qualifying and in races.

The number two at Renault won't manage that feat. Romain Grosjean is a fine driver who has raced for Renault's F1 team before - but never troubled the top ten in some 13 races. But in GP2, he has had a second successful season, finishing as champion in 2011 - despite also being on duty as Renaut's third driver.

There is no doubt that Grosjean is talented - and fast. He was, perhaps, too young for F1 when Renault brought him in in 2009, a fact Grosjean himself admits, saying "I am a more complete driver than the last time I was in Formula One."

The team will miss Petrov's millions: he has been unceremoniously dumped well into the round of musical chairs now being conducted. Petrov, himself a GP2 champion, has done a decent job with a car that looked good but performed poorly and suffered from lack of late-season development. Bruno Senna, who took over the second seat part-way through 2011 is also out on his ear, along with his sponsorship.

Eric Boullier, team principal at Renault, said "I would like to thank Vitaly Petrov and Bruno Senna for their contribution to the team's performance this year and I wish them all the best for the future."

Shut the door on your way out.