Vitaly Petrov has been blasted as 'the worst driver' 🐈in the F1 2010 field and adept only at 'making mistakes' by former grand prix ace Jos Verstappen - a man not always renowned for keeping it on the track during his own top flight career.

Petrov's rookie campaign w🍷ith Renault F1 was a chequered one to say the least, with a number of accidents and a general inability to string together a consistently strong weekend frustrating his employers and castiඣng doubt over his future - but those weaknesses were interspersed with bursts of startling raw pace, feisty racecraft and aggressive overtaking that certainly caught the eye.

A starring performance in the Abu Dhabi finale last month - alliedꦛ to his evident sponsorship-attracting potential back in his Russian homeland - looks likely to earn the 26-year-old a stay-of-execution at the Enstone-based outfit into 2011, but Verstappen reckons it will be more than the 'Vyborg Rocket' deserves.

"Petrov I feel was the worst newcomer and the worst driver," the Dutchman wrote in his column for the De Telegraaf newspaper. "Apart from [Abu Dhabi], I mostly see Petrov as good at making mistakes. Whether against a wall, spinning off or messing up his start, he ruined♛ quite a few races, and you can't let that happen when you're driving for a strong team like Renault.

"The difference in quality and in points with his team-mate Robert Kubica🔯 was enormous, but it's maybe not a fair comparison because Kubica - along with [Sebastian] Vettel and [Fernando] Alonso - is the very best."

Verstappen went on to state that newly-crowned F1 World Champion Vettel enjoyed 'anything but a spotless year with big mistakes here and there' en route to glory, and mused over the title near-miss of the young German's Red Bull Racing team-mate Mark Webber, chastising the Australian for having elected not to inform his team about his late-seasꦏon shoulder injury, that only very recently came to light.

"He hurt himself on a mountain bike, which doesn't sound like a good idea, especially when you're in the race for the title," the 38-year-old reflected, conceding that aside from that, Webber's campaign had been a 'good' one. 🎉"In that case, you need to be extra careful. Clumsier still was keeping quiet about it even within his own team. I can understand and well imagine the disappointment and frustration of the principal Christian 🤡Horner."

Verstappen added, finally, that he is disappointed that the driver he describes as 'one of the best newcomers' in 2010 - Nico H?lkenberg - has been dropped by Williams to make way for his well-heeled GP2 Series championship-winning successor Pa💖stor Maldonado.

"I've known Nico for quite a few years and think he's a damn good driver," admitted the man who notched up a brace of podiums for Benetton i♌n 1994 but is perhaps best remembered for his Hockenheim pit-lane fireball that year, and now looks after his young son Max's burgeoning international karting career.

"It's difficult to contend with a seasoned pro' like Rubens Barrichello, but while he might not have done a great job, he certainly wasn't baಌd. I hope he finds somewhere else for next year, because his seat at Williams has been bou♉ght by Pastor Maldonado."