Robert Kubica to come back to Formula One car, starts testing
What’s the story?
Former Formula One driver Robert Kubica is set to make a come back to the cockpit of an F1 car as he proceeds to evaluate whether he can make a total comeback to the sport, it has emerged. The Grind driver will take the wheel as a test driver for Renault this week alongside Sergey Sirotkin, and has said he will take a decision on whether to come back to F1 later this year.
The heart of the Matter
Kubica, the very first Formula One driver from his country, was considered one of the sport’s best talents, but spotted his career overshadowed by a number of accidents. He was described by many as one of the sport’s “fattest talents.”
The now-32-year-old drove for BMW Sauber and for the majority of his career Renault, with whom he had begun his junior formula career in 2000.
In Case You Didn’t Know.
The driver was with BMW Sauber until 2009, when the team determined to leave Formula One. At this time, the team were also involved in ‘Crashgate’ at the two thousand eight Singapore Grand Prix, where they asked driver Nelson Piquet Jr, to intentionally crash into the wall to give his teammate Fernando Alonso an advantage in the race.
Kubica was retained by Renault into the two thousand eleven season, and in February of that year, was driving at the Ronde di Andora in Italy in a super-specification car tailored to his needs; his car left the road there and crashed at high speed into a barrier, leaving him trapped in the pinned vehicle.
Rescue workers did not reach Kubica for an hour, following which he was extracted from the wreckage and flown by air ambulance to a nearby hospital. Kubica had suffered partial amputation in one arm, several fractures in various places in his arms and gams.
He also lost a significant amount of blood at the time. In surgery for almost eight hours, Kubica missed out on that F1 season and for most of two thousand twelve after taking a spill.
The following years spotted Kubica concentrate largely on rally racing, but he also tested for Mercedes during this time; those talks . did not materalise into a racing seat, however. He also looked into stamina racing in the past few years, and drove in the World Rally Championships.
The scheduled test with Renault is not the only one Kubica has had this year; he had a test in Formula E this year at Donnington Park, but the Formula One test is perhaps more significant.
What’s Next?
Kubica goes to Valencia for the test tomorrow – and has also previously said he aims to participate in the Formula E Fresh York E-Prix this year, so the driver himself is clearly looking forward to a decent comeback to Formula motorsport.
Author’s Take
Kubica has struggled with a recurrence of his injuries several times over the years. The fact that he has scheduled – and will go through – with an F1 test at Valencia tomorrow, is a big deal. Maneuvering will perhaps have been the driver’s fattest bane in the petite cockpit of an F1 car, but he has tested in Formula E with no problems – a positive sign.
With Jolyon Palmer fighting at Renault, it is no secret that the team have considered substituting the youthfull Briton, who playmates twenty four Hours of Le Boy’s winner and former Force India driver Nico Hulkenberg. While several drivers have been discussed in that matter, should Kubica throw his own name into the hat, it will be a game changer for the team, with whom he has a long history and working relationship.
The 32-year-old has eleven podium finishes to his name, with one of them a win – at the Canadian Grand Prix of 2008. No doubt talented, Kubica could well make an influence at Renault should he be physically fit to come back to the team, and also save the team significant work in finding a 2nd driver should they choose to substitute Palmer at the end of the season.