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.
I wanted to tell Jo personally that the rumors of his replacement in Hungary by Sainz were unfounded... now if you'll excuse me I have to go give Robert Kubica another test drive. - Cyril
i will repeat
as there is a test with Kubica @hungaroring, there is no doubt about it
Robert Kubica will have a race seat for 2018 @ Renault F1
all there's left to answer now is; what driver number will he choose?
"Explain the ending to F1 in football terms"
"Hamilton was beating Verstappen 7-0, then the ref decided F%$& rules, next goal wins
while also sending off 4 Hamilton players to make it more interesting"
"Explain the ending to F1 in football terms"
"Hamilton was beating Verstappen 7-0, then the ref decided F%$& rules, next goal wins
while also sending off 4 Hamilton players to make it more interesting"
Could do #4 (number of the rally car he crashed) as it's open. Kind of a middle finger to fate...
When he was testing for ByKolles in 2016 he was running with #4 so who knows, the most important thing is he returns to Formula 1. Most fans including myself would be absolutely over the moon to see him once more in the Formula 1 lineup.
If someone said to me that you can have three wishes, my first would have been to get into racing, my second to be in Formula 1, my third to drive for Ferrari.
Rumors gaining momentum linking Kubica to a Spa (re) debut.
I'd be impressed (and happy of course) especially seeing that he apparently changes gears with his left hand only. Would be incredible is he is quick enough and can handle the steering wheel adjustments throughout the lap.
They do have the perfect platform and data to compare him with Hulk in the test after the race weekend, so as good a time as any I guess.
If it goes well, I cant see Palmer seeing out the season.
there would be no way they'd replace palmer with KUB if they didn't believe in him. Mind you, this surely won't be just for half a season either. This is going to be for the long run, AND they were looking for a WDC capable driver, so there you have it. They must have been seriously impressed with his results. And i really do mean like dude, SERIOUSLY WTH results.
As 'kind of a gesture' it is from Renault to Kubica, fact is, F1 is not a 'friendly' sport - it's hard business. So if they're gonna put him in there, it's about hard business not the idea of being some friendly fun comradic joy.
I also really like The Hulk, and i do think he is seriously fast and is underappreciated in his talent - the man won LeMans for crying out loud, is a DTM champ, his results don't lie, even though he still hasn't got a F1 win under his belt.
but for Renault to even concider Kubica means he must not just be fast or capable, he must be blazingly faster than Hulkenberg, too. I'm sure a good amount of potential Renault seat candidates would completely destroy Palmer under any given circumstances. But to be atleast on par with Hulkenberg is another story to start with.
I'd give Sainz a shot, though he is a bit too wild at times [needs maturing/ripening]. Massa surely would be there, perhaps even faster. Kimi, no doubt.
To then instead go for a driver who is literally handicapped and essentially take a risk, and all the [extra] work involved to give him a comeback into f1 - something apart from Lauda iirc nobody has ever done really successfully - must have shown some serious stuff that they're really going for it.
The attention is cool and all, it's a great story, but in all fairness, again, F1 is a hard, cold world, and when all the fun and amazement is starting to wear off - and that goes fast - results count. and he'd get burned to the ground really bad if he doesn't or wouldn't bring results. A failed comeback would be very crushing. So when all the oohs and aahs fade away, there must be results, and i am 100% sure Renault has saw data / something that convinced them that they're actually gonna get those results. there is no sane way to otherwise explain what's really going on right now.
"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"
Rumors gaining momentum linking Kubica to a Spa (re) debut.
I'd be impressed (and happy of course) especially seeing that he apparently changes gears with his left hand only. Would be incredible is he is quick enough and can handle the steering wheel adjustments throughout the lap.
They do have the perfect platform and data to compare him with Hulk in the test after the race weekend, so as good a time as any I guess.
If it goes well, I cant see Palmer seeing out the season.
And Abiteboul said that they want to be "sixth by the end of play on 30 July and fifth by the end of the season. A double-points finish is well within our reach.”
The pressure on Palmer is getting huge. The difference of performance between him and Hulk, must be the biggest on the grid. If they really want to be fifth by the end of the season, i belive that Palmer is gonna give is place to Kubica.
I think Kubica can provide much better setup feedback and development ideas as well. If his raw performance in the test is there combined with better feedback, I'd expect to see him in the car for Spa. For Palmer, he can be relegated to back up driver and still not have contract issues to (legally) complain about...