Italian GP a special weekend for Kubica
Another Italian GP for Renault's Robert Kubica, which brings many memories back to the Polish driver seeing how he lived and raced there for many years prior to his F1 career. As for the race itself, Kubica still enjoys the super quick circuit despite it being one of the most challenging of the season.
Robert, Monza is an important weekend for you. Do you think of it as a home race? "In a way, it is. Poland is my home country but in go-karts, Formula Renault and Formula 3, I always raced for Italian teams and spent over a year living close to Monza, so this whole area holds good memories for me. Looking at my F1 career, this was also the track where I scored my first podium finish in 2006, so it’s certainly a very special circuit and weekend."
What are the characteristics of the circuit for the drivers? "You have a lot of high-speed sections, like Ascari and Parabolica, plus the low-speed chicanes and it’s difficult to balance these sectors so the car performs well in all of them. It’s the quickest circuit on the calendar, which means we use a very low-downforce, low-drag configuration. In previous years, we tested at Monza the week before the race so we could get used to the feeling of the car, which is much lighter than normal. Now, we don’t have that test, so it becomes a bit of a tricky weekend. The other important factor is good mechanical grip for braking stability into the chicanes, and good traction on the exit."
Is it an enjoyable circuit to drive? "I think so because the feeling is so unusual – it’s like being at the wheel of a completely different car. At the start of the weekend, you think that the rear end is very unstable, but in fact that’s how it stays all the time, and you never quite find the grip and stability you’re used to at other circuits. That makes it a bigger challenge for the drivers, and I also enjoy the fact that there’s a lot of heavy braking, where you approach the braking points at very high speed and need to be extremely precise. It’s not easy to pick them up or to hit the apex of the corners."
After a strong podium finish in Spa, what are your expectations for this weekend? "It’s hard to say and I think this will be a very interesting weekend to judge the performance of the cars. Spa was a good example of how powerful the f-duct can be and we were immediately more competitive and closer to the front when we fitted it. The effect will be less powerful in Monza because the cars run with less drag, but there will be still be an advantage, so we need to see which teams use it and if we are able to as well. This circuit can sometimes throw up some surprises, so I prefer to stay cautious when it comes to predictions. But if the car feels as good as it did in Spa, then there’s no reason why we won’t be competitive in Monza."
