Nick Heidfeld will replace the injured Polish formula one driver Robert Kubica for next month's opening round of the season in Bahrain.
The 33-year-old German, who's started 172 grand prix but never won, will team up at Renault with the Russian Vitaly Petrov.
Kubica has been ruled out for at least three months, and possibly the entire season, after suffering serious arm, leg and hand injuries in a rally crash in Italy 11 days ago.
He's currently undergoing a third round of surgery to fix broken bones.
