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.
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currently, I am of the impression that all the paddles in the cars can either be pushed forward or pulled back on either side of the wheel. so drivers tend to change up and down on both sides of the wheel.. so its no different really.
I don't see how that would be illegal. hell, if yo'd want to shift up and down by pressing a button, who would stop you if that would benefit you?
still, i think people are putting too much emphasis on his 'restricted movement'. I have not seen a recent video showing how he moves, nor do i think that exists though.
But again, who says he can't use the paddle shifters? restricted can be used in a broad range.
perhaps he can't put his arm behind his back - that's restricted movement. perhaps he can't fully put his arm in a 90 degree turn. again, restricted. that doesn't mean he can't pilot a F1 car well.
can he open his hand completely? perhaps not. is that absolutely neccesary? perhaps he can't break off a twig with his thumb while holding one. that's restricted. would it really influence his f1 possibilities?
i think there is a whole too much of emphasis put on that. The only recurring 'problem' i've read throughout is that it seems full opposite lock is an issue. that could mean the strenght to lift his right arm upwards would be insufficient. question is, how much more can be improved there by even more intensive fysiotherapy, and a more specific training programme, paired to technical solutions like perhaps increasing power steering.
"Explain the ending to F1 in football terms"
"Hamilton was beating Verstappen 7-0, then the ref decided F%$& rules, next goal wins
while also sending off 4 Hamilton players to make it more interesting"
Yep, "restricted movement" really only applies to whether he can escape the car in a crash. Most everything else can be worked around if need be. If he can pass the driver escape test, he should be good to race again.
As I follow every Robert's move (I'm admin member of Kubica's Fans Club - robertkubica-klubkibicow.pl) I would like to explain few things about him.
Firstly his hand and his disability - few years ago Robert said he could pilot F1 car at 100% on most tracks but the problem was to turn steering wheel in very tight corners like in Monaco, so there were about 3-4 tracks he would not be 100% efficient. And he is totally ambitious guy so he refused to test F1 car in the past because he saw no point to do this when he was not ready to became fully capable F1 driver.
The main problem with his right arm was low wrist mobility, so he had to compensate it with movement of the whole arm. So tight cockpits was a problem, he felt comfortable in rally, GT and WEC cars as he had enough space to operate.
But all this time he worked very hard to improve this and as we see now he is successful, in recent test he operated paddles with left hand to shift up and down (as Herbert mentioned on Sky Jacques Villeneuve did it in similar way). When RK realized his F1 comeback dream could happen, he started to work hard on fitness in general and now he says he is in best shape ever.
Than in 2016 and 2017 he did thousands kilometers in simulators of Renault and Dallara, he completed 2 tests in GP3 car, and also in Formula E, choosing demanding circuits with tight hairpins.
And finally he completed full GP weekend simulation in one day in 2012 Renault/Lotus E20 car. He did better laptimes than Siriotkin - Renault third driver, he did consistent 115 laps, he could do even better laptimes, but there were no more soft tire sets (and the tires were new spec to him). The team, the engineers, were little bit shocked with his performance. Robert himself said he is proud of what he achieved and this statement is most meaningful for me, as he is very modest and would never overestimate himself.
I'm not native English so forgive me if I wrote sth. in wrong, or too complicated way, but I hope its all clear.
To sum it up, in my opinion Robert is truly ready to return to F1, whether this will happen or not depends on many factors (as everything else in F1) and as, before his terrible accident, he was considered future WDC contender, I would love to see him in a competitive team fighting for it in 2-3 years from now.
I think personally really, IF robert does a test for 'escaping' an F1 car,
then i am 100% sure he'll be in a race Renault F1 car. There is zero reason why he would do that test if there is no potential there.
So personally, that's really all that i'm waiting for now. I can't believe that it is that close really, i never in a million years would have imagined
that he could actually return to F1.
If he does, that is legendary.
I'll be honest though, i still think he was batshit crazy that he did that Rally stuff, especially so close before the F1 season.
He wasn't really good in it, in regards to how good he is in F1, he rather didnt do much good in rally.
I understand he has fun racing in it, but really, i think it was stupid first when i heared it and then unfortunately, the accident happened.
He took the gamble to say so and had the short end of it. Well, offcourse it was a freak accident how he collided like that, so he was in insanely bad luck.
I think he should have done LM or Indy, i think he could have even won that.
But, afterwards, it's always easy to say things.
Anyway, it's absolutely amazing that it's getting so close. IF he does a escape test - and pass - he WILL be in F1 guaranteed 100%. My hope is that he will
do this soon, really soon. If he does, and pass, 2018 could actually have a Kubica at the steering wheel. There's just way too many motion with Kubica and Renault right now.
Imagine that. From all the people Renault could hire, they might actually get the least expected driver that actually has a handicap.
"Explain the ending to F1 in football terms"
"Hamilton was beating Verstappen 7-0, then the ref decided F%$& rules, next goal wins
while also sending off 4 Hamilton players to make it more interesting"
He wasn't really good in it, in regards to how good he is in F1, he rather didnt do much good in rally.
Didn't he win the WRC2 title?
I think he did alright
Yes, and it was his first season of serious rallying, but competition was not that strong so it was nothing very special.
On the other hand, in WRC with Ford, which was less competitive car these days, he was able to win 14 SS in 33 rallies, not only on tarmac but on gravel as well. His idea was to catch the leaders as fast as possible, and with no proper rally experience on this level he was out of road too often. If he had 1-2 years more to learn (with factory team to cool him down a bit) he could be top rally driver as well.
RK rallying episode is a big story, but this is F1 forum
On the other hand, in WRC with Ford, which was less competitive car these days (...)
It is worth to mention he was a privateer, apart from driving he was heavily involved in running the team. That's handicap when you are against factory crews, that's one of te reasons Solberg gave up WRC.
Well probably that, as I'm not that informed about his rally career, i read a LOT about his 'crashes' or 'off-road' escapades that gave him bad results.
Let's just say his great performances in F1 were not similar in Rally.
"Explain the ending to F1 in football terms"
"Hamilton was beating Verstappen 7-0, then the ref decided F%$& rules, next goal wins
while also sending off 4 Hamilton players to make it more interesting"
Didn't he win the WRC2 title?