The Williams F1 Team has finally confirmed that Robert Kubica will make his full time race comeback next year, 9 years after his previously final race in Formula One. The Polish ace has been the team's reserve and test driver during 2018, and will race alongside rookie George Russell.
Post here all non technical related topics about Formula One. This includes race results, discussions, testing analysis etc. TV coverage and other personal questions should be in Off topic chat.
When asked about the Williams reports, Kubica said: “Thanks to the tests with Renault I was able to find out that I can drive a formula one car.
“Now we are working on a solution for the future. Whether it will be in formula one or somewhere else I don’t know yet. But I am trying to find a solution that will allow me to continue what started with my first test in June,” he told Poland’s Przeglad Sportowy.
“In recent years I have had to be patient, and I have approached this whole situation rationally and not emotionally.
“Hopefully everything will work out as I hope and in the near future I will have some positive information,” Kubica added.
According to some Polish media reports, Kubica’s Williams chances – and potential forthcoming track test – are being funded by a personal sponsor.
“I must say that this is not true,” he insisted. “My future does not depend on what my sponsors or partners will do.”
As for the rumours he struggled physically on the ‘long runs’ with Renault, Kubica said: “I’m glad there are rumours, because they are about me being in the car compared to the six years when I was not!
“Thankfully those who make the decisions to do not pay attention to rumours and speculation,” Kubica added.
I read on f1fanatic (http://www.f1fanatic.co.uk/2017/09/26/f ... up-2609-5/) that Lances familie denied Kubica the chance to test at Suzuka:
"In the round-up: Lance Stroll’s family denied a chance for Robert Kubica to test a Williams at Suzuka as the teams considers possible alternatives to Felipe Massa for 2018."
I read on f1fanatic (http://www.f1fanatic.co.uk/2017/09/26/f ... up-2609-5/) that Lances familie denied Kubica the chance to test at Suzuka:
"In the round-up: Lance Stroll’s family denied a chance for Robert Kubica to test a Williams at Suzuka as the teams considers possible alternatives to Felipe Massa for 2018."
Surely it should say "The Strolls refused to pay for Kubica's test".
Nobody here would pay for someone else to hire a Clio at Rent4Ring for a day would they?
Before the start of the 2013 season of Formula 1 Toto Wolff called the person in charge of the Mercedes simulator and told him that he would have to stop his program for one day, for Robert Kubica to test how and what he wanted. Wolff is a great admirer of the Pole, called him for a vacation in the snow last January along with Alex and Franz Wurz (the father of the Toyota pilot was Ralicross European Champion in the 70s) and wanted to know what Kubica could get behind the wheel of a Formula 1 without space limitations so he could move his right elbow at will.
Having to do the will to the 'boss' Mercedes engineers did not like to see a day of work dedicated to what they considered a whim of Wolff, but how good professionals prepared the arrival of Kubica in the best way and how they were working on the set-up for the GP of Spain, invited the Polish to start their "tests" on the track in the outskirts of Barcelona.
For eight hours, almost without a break for lunch, Kubica rode on the simulator, suggesting changes to the W04's set-up and when he finished his day of adaptation to the Mercedes simulator, he had improved the chassis by 0.3s on a track in which the Germans thought they had reached the limit.
So while Kubica drove back to Heathrow airport, the engineers were already asking Wolff to have the Pole return to Brackley when he could, as they were all admirers of his technical and work ability.
Thus, whenever there was time available on Grand Prix weekends, Kubica would drive to Brackley to test Friday night for Saturday, giving birth to some of Mercedes' best performances in the second half of the season.
Without ever wanting to open a lot, Kubica admitted that "we just could not simulate the degradation of the tires, but when we had problems, we tried a hit that required little of the tires to prevent the team from bigger problems. Moreover, this work has allowed me to conclude that I can drive on almost all current Formula One tracks, but it will only make sense to think of a return when I can ride even in all of them! "
some rumours about 1 day at Silver to get used to Williams car, then 2 days at Hungaro, 1 day for KUB, 1 for PDR, and better gets the seat , but no official info
Robert Kubica is set to undertake two days of testing with Williams in a bid to return to Formula 1 in 2018.
Kubica drove in F1 from 2006-2010 and was set to compete in the 2011 season for Lotus-Renault. A pre-season rally accident however, left the Polish racer with severe injuries and limited movement in his right arm, meaning that he has been absent from the grid for seven years.
Throughout the summer, Kubica undertook testing for Renault, driving a Lotus E20 at the Ricardo Tormo Circuit, Paul Ricard and at the Goodwood Festival of Speed before driving this season's R.S.17 at F1's in-season test at the Hunagroring.
With Renault recently signing Carlos Sainz Jr for 2018, a return to the Estone-based outfit has been ruled out and the 32 year old is now in the frame for a drive with Williams next season to replace the ageing Felipe Massa. Kubica is said to have two testing days with the team after the Japanese Grand Prix, the first of which will be at Silverstone before heading to the Hungaroring for an assessment test, although Williams has refused to comment.
At the second test in Hungary, the team will conduct two days of running, with Kubica driving on one of the days and reserve driver Paul di Resta driving on the other, acting as a benchmark to test Kubica's pace and performance.
Di Resta is also said to be in the frame for a drive with Williams in 2018 after impressing the team at this season's Hungarian Grand Prix where he stepped in for an unwell Massa, qualifying only 0.7 seconds behind Lance Stroll despite having no experience of driving the 2017 FW40 prior to that session.
Kubica's arm injury from his 2011 accident is one of the biggest concerns that is preventing a full-time return to a Formula 1 cockpit, with the aggressive aerodynamics of the 2017 cars making the machines more demanding to drive, explaining why extensive testing is needed before a decision can be made regarding his future.
That's good news for Kubica. Let's seehow he compares to Di Resta.
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Wehrlein's still in the mix, too though.......i'd hold Wehrlein's chances a lot higher to getting a Williams seat than DiResta.
As for Massa, i think he's done his part and his days are done in F1. He had some fire this year but it was momentarily and it faded fast. I don't see any benefit from keeping Massa by now. I also feel like his 'mentor' skills or part has been done by now for Stroll, and then Williams has now the opportunity to calmly find a replacement for Felipe unlike end last year they had to spoon in someone fast and quite frankly, Massa was the only reasonable option.
That ship has sailed, so i'd take Massa out of the equation too. So it would now be down to Wehrlein and Kubica for the 2nd Williams seat.Di Resta is already their 3rd driver and i don't think there's really much for why that has to change. He's also 25+ of age so that supposed Martini issue is non-existant. Now for both Kubica and Wehrleins there are positives and cons.
As for the positives;
Wehrlein is a Mercedes protogé driver, has a good deal of experience and probably brings a discount for getting a seat at Williams, powered by Mercedes. It would be in Merc's interest too to get him in a better stall than a backmarker team, and likewise for Wehrlein himself. He's young and supposedly fast and it would be a good comparison aswell as boost for Stroll to 'motivate' eachother in becoming better. 2 young hungry rookies imho are better fuel for eachother than having a washed-up always excuses ready (ala grosjean) has-been that has zero motivation and quite frankly was retired already.
So there's quite some stuff speaking in Wehrlein's favour there.
Kubica then, is a vastly experienced driver, not only in F1 but in many other stages, has been through pure hell and comes out on top, is hungry to get back into f1 and continue 'the high' he was in when things got sour a couple of years ago, is definately WDC material, brings in a lot of attention and name, and would also rather motivate
stroll to not get 'beaten by a crippled' (to speak harsh, not like i think of Kubica, but thats exactly what headlines would read). Also, i think Kubica has other areas where he could mentor Stroll well, and then i also firmly believe that Kubica is far, far more capable of setting up a car compared to overly sensitive Massa. Additionally, it seems he
brings in an interesting deal through Rosberg, whom has taken it up on him to get Kubica a raceseat, and it's said he is willing to do some promotional work for it. It would surely be in Rosberg's benefit too but you could read it as sigining 1 driver and getting 2, and not just the least, a former WDC too, from the Mercedes camp, a playboy, and i wouldn't even be at all surprised if Rosberg would be open to do some reserve driving for the team too. He has driven for Williams before, which gets him in a interesting position.
Now as for the negatives. Let's start with Wehrlein.
It is said he is a diva and doesn't work well with others. True or not remains to be seen, but i think there is some truth to the Force India 'incident'. Then there's the issue of honestly not really showing anything worthwhile or interesting anyway, even though Sauber isn't the most spectacular place to be, he hardly shown excellence over complete waste of air that is Ericsson. From the stories told about Wehrlein's supposed capabilities, i would have expected Kamui Kobayashi kinds of runs, but far from that actually. And even though he's a merc protegé, what does he actually bring and how beneficial is he to the team? Can he set up a car? Is he even able to beat Stroll? The fact there are rather big question marks here doesn't do him much good.
But there are - unfortunately - also negatives for Kubica.
However you put it, he remains a huge question mark. The fact Renault opted NOT to sign him IS a real huge letdown for me, but it must be said Sainz is a safer bet. And even though i think Wehrlein isn't even close to Sainz' performance levels, Kubica still has the matter of being under a magnifying glass of whether he can actually compete a season, or, even said, whether he can not just drive an F1 car, but actually be competitive. He has been a good amount of years out of F1, i'm not blind to that.
I think both weigh eachother out rather. Kubica on one side has some benefits, but Wehrlein is the younger one with arguably a longer future ahead of him. Then again, it is F1.
I am hoping for Kubica though.
I am beyond sad that Kubica won't drive for Renault in 2018. I admit when rumours first raised about Sainz going to Renault, he was the only one to spoil things and unfortunately, that's exactly what happened. I'm rather confident that if Sainz wasn't brought to Renault, we would have had Kubica there.Which raises chances for a Williams seat.
Ah well, i dunno anymore at this point. I'll just let it all happen. But i would reaaaaaaaaly like to see Kubica back.
Last edited by Manoah2u on 04 Oct 2017, 22:20, edited 1 time in total.
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Maybe Renault knows something we don't? Maybe after the tests Kubica done Renault determined he can't be 100% competitive throughout an entire race stint? Williams tests will show more though. I'll be happy if either Kubica or Di Resta take that Williams seat.
Maybe Renault knows something we don't? Maybe after the tests Kubica done Renault determined he can't be 100% competitive throughout an entire race stint? Williams tests will show more though. I'll be happy if either Kubica or Di Resta take that Williams seat.
Wehrlein's still in the mix, too though.......i'd hold Wehrlein's chances a lot higher to getting a Williams seat than DiResta
As far as I've read Wehrlein is too young due to Martini's contractual requirement that one driver must be over 25.
What a dumb clause.
Yeah, it's for advertising purposes as far as I know. You can't have a fresh-faced young adult look suave in a tux like you can a slightly more mature individual.
Maybe Renault knows something we don't? Maybe after the tests Kubica done Renault determined he can't be 100% competitive throughout an entire race stint? Williams tests will show more though. I'll be happy if either Kubica or Di Resta take that Williams seat.
As far as I've read Wehrlein is too young due to Martini's contractual requirement that one driver must be over 25.
What a dumb clause.
Yeah, it's for advertising purposes as far as I know. You can't have a fresh-faced young adult look suave in a tux like you can a slightly more mature individual.
Well, it depends on the person really. Some 21 year old athletes look way older.
, but no official info
