What’s the story?
Former Formula One driver Robert Kubica is set to make a return to the cockpit of an F1 car as he continues to evaluate whether he can make a full return to the sport, it has emerged. The Polish 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 return to F1 later this year.
The heart of the Matter
Kubica, the first Formula One driver from his country, was considered one of the sport’s best talents, but saw his career overshadowed by a number of accidents. He was described by many as one of the sport’s “biggest 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 decided to leave Formula One. At this time, the team were also involved in ‘Crashgate’ at the 2008 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 2011 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 legs.
He also lost a significant amount of blood at the time. In surgery for nearly eight hours, Kubica missed out on that F1 season and for most of 2012 after taking a spill.
The following years saw Kubica focus 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 endurance 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 heads to Valencia for the test tomorrow – and has also previously said he aims to participate in the Formula E New York E-Prix this year, so the driver himself is clearly looking forward to a proper return 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 biggest bane in the small cockpit of an F1 car, but he has tested in Formula E with no problems – a positive sign.
With Jolyon Palmer struggling at Renault, it is no secret that the team have considered replacing the young Briton, who partners 24 Hours of Le Mans 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 11 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 impact at Renault should he be physically fit to return to the team, and also save the team significant work in finding a second driver should they choose to replace Palmer at the end of the season.
