It’s Heidfeld v Senna for the vacant Renault seat

Following Robert Kubica’s recent accident, which may cost the Pole his F1 career and will almost certainly see him out of F1 for 2011, Lotus Renault GP is in need of a replacement driver. And quite soon with the next test window opening in Jerez tonight (Australian time).

With five reserve drivers on their roster—yes, that’s right five—you’d think it would be a safe bet they would recruit from within. However, this now appears increasingly unlikely. Word on the interwebz is that Nick Heidfeld is the favourite to get the gig. A theory loosely supported by an official statement from Lotus Renault GP, which you can read below.

The reason for chasing an experienced driver like Heidfeld is twofold. First, the talent in reserve for Renault is mostly young, exuberant, but inexperienced in developing a Formula One car. Second, the new R31 features a radical forward exiting exhaust which requires a sage guiding hand through its development process. Remember, Kubica set the fastest time in Valencia last week, so it’s undoubted the R31 has great potential.

Heidfeld made his F1 debut in 2000 and has driven for Prost, Sauber, Jordan, Williams, BMW Sauber and Sauber once again in the latter part of last year. He has experience. Bruno Senna, on the other hand, does not. He was widely expected to land the role of filling Robert’s shoes, but it looks less likely now.

There is hope for Senna, though, as both he and Heidfeld will get track time at Jerez and the results there will play a large part in deciding who joins Vitaly Petrov on the grid at Bahrain in a few weeks time

Jerez Test Driver Line-Up

Lotus Renault GP has revised its driver line-up for this week’s test session in Jerez de la Frontera, Spain.

Vitaly will drive the R31 on Thursday and Friday, as originally scheduled. For Saturday and Sunday, the team will give mileage to Bruno Senna and will also evaluate Nick Heidfeld, who is a potential replacement for Robert Kubica as a race driver. The exact running order for the weekend will be confirmed on Friday evening.