Kubica: I haven't done longer than 15 laps long run
- Farhan Khurram
- Mar 5, 2019
- 2 min read
Robert Kubica is all set to make his full time Formula 1 comeback in a fortnight's time in Melbourne, 8 years after he suffered life threatening injuries during a rally in which he crashed his car.
While Kubica's recovery and return to Formula 1 is highly remarkable, the Polish driver still believes that he is not fully ready for the season-opener in Australia.
“Coming back after eight years, probably I know 20 percent of the things that I should know before going to Australia." said the 2008 Canadian GP winner.
“The rest is unknown. I haven't done longer than 15 laps long run"
“There is a lot of question marks. But that's the reality, we cannot change it.”
Kubica and Williams were unable to rack some significant amount of mileage during the two pre-season tests in Barcelona. The Williams FW42 was 2 days late, and that delay thwarted the team's testing progress. Williams' lap count was the lowest of all the 10 teams and the team also finished at the bottom of the time sheets.
Kubica's laps tally in particular was the lowest of all, as he could only manage to bag a meagre amount of 268 laps.
While reflecting upon William's winter tests, Kubica added: “My last real run when I feel the car well was [Wednesday] afternoon, first run, when the car did things which I was surprised [by], a really nice surprise."
“That's the situation, I cannot change it”
“I have to make sure we are doing everything what we can, from my side.
“So I get up really a lot of confidence, but since then my confidence disappeared, because the car was not in the right state.” said a bemused Kubica.
Kubica was then questioned about the prospects of racing the FW42 in Melbourne, to which he replied: “First of all we have to make sure the car stays in one piece.
“Because the reality is, my test ended after the first run in the afternoon [on Wednesday].
“The rest, I have to forget how I drove and what I felt”
“There were some positive things, but it's difficult to say it moved forward when actually you are staying in the garage,
"Or you are running the car which is not in the configuration it should be.” he commented.
Robert Kubica, who marked his F1 debut with BMW Sauber in 2007, has 1 win, 1 pole position and 12 podiums to his name. The Polish driver was rated highly by F1 experts, and was even on the radar of Ferrari.
Kubica tested for Renault during the 2017 F1 season, in order to evaluate whether he was able to withstand the incredible amount of G forces that an F1 car exerts on the driver or not.
Following two successful outings with Renault, Kubica was signed by Williams as a reserve driver in 2018, and then promoted to a full time role for the 2019 F1 season alongside 2018 Formula 2 champion and F1 debutant, George Russell.
The article originally appeared on Motorsport. Click here
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