Robert Kubica says it was essential for him that to have the opportunity to test for Williams in his role as reserve driver.
Kubica will appear in three first practice sessions for the team during the 2018 F1 season and will also get to drive the FW41 during pre-season and in-season testing.
“In current regulations F1 testing is very limited. The simulator plays a very important role. Because I’m part of this kind of project it is important for me to build up a relationship in reality and simulator in order to use this tool as best as we can in the future.”
His role “would not make sense” if he only appeared at the launch and didn’t return until the final round of the championship, Kubica added. He likened his reserve role at Williams to his practice outings for BMW Sauber in 2006 which led to his F1 race debut later the same year.
“At that point the Formula One regulations was much more open so reserve driver was much more active. But still I will have a chance to drive quite a lot compared to let’s say what is allowed by regulations.”
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“There will be a lot of work in the simulator in the factory, trying to support the team. The guys [race drivers Lance Stroll and Sergey Sirotkin] need some help, if I can help them they will be more than welcome.”
Although he missed out on a race seat for this year, Kubica said the last 12 months ave left him “more convinced now than ever that I am able to drive an F1 car with my limitations”.
Of course I would prefer to be here as a race driver but if you look at it from a different perspective and you see where I was 12 months ago, nobody thought I would be in a position to drive an F1 car.
2018 F1 season
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Damon (@damon)
18th February 2018, 12:08
Gotta appreciate the presence of the vintage Prost nose in Formula 1, not? :)
Damon (@damon)
18th February 2018, 12:12
I meant “, no?” in the meaning of “right?”
TEDBELL
18th February 2018, 14:03
Gotta be a fan of Kubica after reading about his totally positive attitude about the kind of #3 role he plays within the team.
I admire the attitude of his response. He is the kind of guy youd want driving your car. Given the chance he becomes important in 2019 driver selection. He comes with substantial ability to help any team who has need. I am eager to watch the how the young drivers deal with his racecraft. A total Fan
Lancer033 (@lancer033)
18th February 2018, 16:46
+1 except i just can’t see him becoming important in the drivers market. I really do hope he proves me wrong, but i just can’t see him getting any better than he already has. He’s got a lot to offer the team as a development driver and mentor to their two very young race drivers. I just don’t ever expect to see him up to the level he was before. Le Man, i’m sure he’ll do great at, just not in F1.
kpcart
18th February 2018, 14:40
todays newest reports, he will test The Manor LMP1 car, (which will likely see him race all 5 WEC races this year like Alonso).
Tristan
18th February 2018, 15:29
I think it’s a great idea for the reserve driver to be more active and to have a presence within the team during testing as the simulator driver. I’m really surprised it’s not a more popular thing for teams to publicise their test/reserve drivers and the roles they play within the team. Especially as it’s pretty common knowledge these days as to how hard the simulator drivers work and how important the simulator is.
gus maia
18th February 2018, 17:57
Would anybody second that there were no more Kubica news(?).
Damon (@damon)
18th February 2018, 20:40
Not really Gus, not really.
Kubica news > non-F1 Alonso news >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> any other news
gus maia
18th February 2018, 22:43
It saddens me that he has been used as a PR stunt.
Fer no.65 (@fer-no65)
18th February 2018, 18:53
That’d be a good idea to help.the teams lower on the grid, to go back to that era where some teams got to run a third car on Fridays. These days it’d help them a lot, sure it’s been costly, but the benefits surely would overcome the cost.
DB-C90 (@dbradock)
18th February 2018, 23:31
Getting car time pre-season and in the first 3 events os a good idea and will give the team some extra driver input.
They’re probably fortunate they they’re likely to be one of the cars that will do a heap of laps in pre season testing unlike some of the teams.
Once the season starts though, my guess is that we’ll see VERY limited running in P1 and even P2 so that teams can protect their PU’s now we have the ridiculous 3 PU rule. If anyone’s PU fails in the first race or two and has to be replaced, it’s likely that team will skip P1 for the rest of the season.