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{ Bruno Senna could be the short-term solution to Renault's problems. Photograph: Andrew Hone/Getty Images

With Robert Kubica extremely unlikely to take any part in the 2011 Formula One season following his accident in a rally in Italy a seat with a top team has become available with the first race a little over a month away.

Kubica demonstrated the potential of Renault's new R31 at last week's test in Valencia when he posted the fastest time and the team will find it difficult to replace the 26-year-old Pole, who is regarded as one of the best on the grid despite only having one grand prix victory so far.

With the Russian Vitaly Petrov confirmed in the team's second car, with only one error-strewn season behind him, Renault may well look beyond their five-strong pool of test and reserve drivers despite the team principal, Eric Boullier, saying last week that the recently signed Bruno Senna would step up if a race seat became available.

"I will give the one who is ready, and Bruno is the most ready driver," Boullier said. That was in reference to piloting a contemporary Formula One car, which Senna did with little success for Hispania Racing last season.

Of the others in Renault's pool, Romain Grosjean contested seven grands prix for the team in 2009 as a replacement for Nelson Piquet Jr but failed to impress, Fairuz Fauzy drove in a handful of practice sessions for Lotus last season, and neither Jan Charouz nor Ho-Pin Tung has more than a few testing miles to their names and they are way short of being ready.

Another option could be a bold approach to the Force India team for the loan of their reserve driver Nico Hülkenburg. The young German qualified on pole position for Williams in Brazil last year during his rookie season but failed to keep his drive when he could not bring any sponsorship to the team.

He was highly rated by Sir Frank Williams and is managed by Willi Weber, who guided the career of Michael Schumacher. It is thought that Force India are unlikely to accommodate any approach as they plan to use Hülkenburg during Friday practice sessions as they did with Paul di Resta, who has a race seat this year, last season.

Experienced drivers are few and far between. The Italian Vitantonio Liuzzi is being touted for the remaining seat at Hispania but will now be hoping for a call from Renault. The veteran German Nick Heidfeld is also available after losing his Sauber drive last year in favour of the GP2 runner-up Sergio Pérez, who came armed with a fistful of Telmex dollars.

Kimi Raikkonen, the 2007 world champion, was talked about as a replacement for Petrov in the off-season but the Finn drives for Citroen in the world rally championship and would be hard, and expensive, to extricate from any contract. There is also the question of his desire. He never enjoyed the strict, disciplined lifestyle expected of the modern F1 driver and the sport has not got any more relaxed since he was dropped by Ferrari at the end of the 2009 season.

Jacques Villeneuve, tried to enter his own team over the winter but his entry was rejected by the FIA. The 1997 world champion still harbours ambitions to be behind the wheel and was believed to be considering piloting his own entry had it been accepted.

Senna is the short-term option but there is a feeling at Renault that their new car is a contender. It would appear that only Renault's stricken Pole could have made the R31 such a thing.

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Labels: Contenders, Guardian, Kubica, Renault, replace, Robert, scarce