Robert Kubica has successfully completed testing in the current Renault Formula One car, the latest step in what may prove to be a remarkable comeback for the Polish driver. Kubica was considered one of the best drivers of his generation racing in F1 between 2006 and 2010 before a severe accident during a rally. Proving that he is once again able to drive an F1 car during the test at the Hungaroring was essential to his hopes of making a comeback in 2018 or possibly even this season. Kubica had 76 grands prix starts, and finished on the podium 12 times, including one victory. He raced for four years for BMW Sauber, for whom he scored the win at Canada in 2008. He joined Renault in 2010 but before the next season he crashed during the first stage of the Ronde di Andora rally. He sustained a partial amputation of his right forearm, compound fractures and a significant loss of blood. The injuries
Ozzie Smith Jersey were so severe he was not expected to be able to drive an F1 car competitively again. On Wednesday, however, the 32-year old ran for a full day in Budapest. He completed over a race distance in the morning session, 72 laps during the course of 10 stints, and was seventh fastest. In the afternoon he ran for a further 70 laps and finished fourth fastest. His best time of 1min 18.572sec was 1.448sec down on the fastest lap set by Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel last Sunday. Kubica’s time was only just over one?tenth of a second slower than the qualifying time for the Hungarian Grand Prix set by the Renault driver Jolyon Palmer. “It was a fantastic feeling for me to be here today in the RS17,” Kubica said. Lewis Hamilton stands to benefit from fulfilling his promise to Valtteri Bottas Read more “It was amazing to see so many fans come to see me out on track, so thank you to all of them. It has been an incredible journey to this point, where I have answered many questions to myself. I learnt a lot about the latest generation car, as there are a reasonable amount of differences between it and the Formula One cars I have driven in the past. “After today, it’s too early to say what the next step might be. For now, I owe a big thanks to everyone at Renault Sport Formula One team for making this test happen.” He had previously completed two tests this year in the 2012 Lotus-Renault and out-paced the team’s usual test driver Sergey Sirotkin. But showing he was able to contend with the faster and more physically
Paul Kariya Jersey demanding 2017 cars was essential. The Polish driver is highly rated in the paddock and by his competitors such as Lewis Hamilton who has raced him in karts and entered F1 one year after the Pole. “Robert’s one of the quickest drivers I’ve ever raced against,” he said. “If he was still racing today he’d been in contention for a world title, if he’d not won one. Not a lot of great, great drivers come through. You have some that are much better than the rest, but still not the greatest, and then you have real special drivers like him.” Advertisement Vettel, too, acknowledged his skills. “It’s great for him to be back,” the German said. “There was never a doubt about his talent, his speed and his ability to drive the car.” Kubica has not returned to the F1 paddock since his accident, insisting that he would only do so as a driver. He successfully passed the FIA cockpit extraction test on Monday and what had seemed an unlikely return now seems increasingly possible and that he may play a part in the 2018 driver market or possibly even sooner. Nico Hulkenberg has scored all 26 of Renault’s points this season and Palmer’s seat has come under increasing scrutiny as he has been out-qualified
Patrik Laine Jersey and out-raced by his team-mate, although Renault’s managing director, Cyril Abiteboul, has insisted Palmer still has time to prove himself. “I told him [Palmer] that Robert is not an immediate threat,” he said. “Clearly we are looking at options for 2018, and Jo could be an option for 2018. That is in his hands.” However, the manufacturer is entirely serious about challenging at the front of the field within three years and having two drivers able to compete strongly sooner rather than later would be of huge value to the team. Having successfully mastered the new cars and the tight, demanding cornering of the Hungaroring, Kubica has proved he is capable of returning to a competitive drive after an absence of six and half years. On the first day of testing in Hungary Charles Leclerc set the fastest time for Ferrari. It was the strong performance expected from the 19-year-old Monégasque who is part of the Ferrari driver academy and leads the Formula 2 championship – he is strongly tipped to step up to an F1 drive next season. The emerging talent of the young British driver Lando Norris was also impressive. The 17-year-old, who was signed to the McLaren young driver
Kellen Clemens Jersey programme this year and is currently second in the European Formula 3 championship, put in a strong display at the Hungaroring. He finished Wednesday second fastest, two and half tenths back from Vettel and was five-tenths quicker than the time set by current McLaren driver Stoffel Vandoorne on Tuesday
