Robert Kubica will be able to take part in tomorrow’s Azerbaijan Grand Prix following his crash in qualifying, Williams have confirmed.
The team’s sole spare car was taken by George Russell when his original chassis was damaged by a drain cover during first practice. That prompted concerns Kubica’s heavy crash at turn eight during qualifying would leave the team too short of parts for him to continue.However Williams has now confirmed they will be able to repair Kubica’s car in time for the start of the race.
“We are currently working to fix the front end of Robert’s car,” said the team in a statement. “We will replace both front corners, brakes and steering column on his car following the accident, but we have replacement parts available for all of this.”
Senior race engineer Dave Robson praised the team’s efforts in preparing Russell’s repaired car for the race.
“Although we gathered only limited data from yesterday’s running, we were able to make some improvements to the car overnight,” he said. “Furthermore, with the mechanics having done an excellent job of getting the spare chassis ready for George, we were able to use both cars to conduct some further experiments in [final practice].”
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Matteo (@m-bagattini)
27th April 2019, 16:45
They can use Russel’s initial car I suppose, the damages are in different areas and the front of that car should be fine.
Claire Gorman
27th April 2019, 17:22
Hadn’t thought of that, good point.
svianna (@svianna)
27th April 2019, 16:46
Oh boy, I wished they had replacement parts for the top management of the organization. Study case in corporate dysfunction. From Austria 2014 to Baku 2019, it has been only one way for Williams F1: down.
Phylyp (@phylyp)
27th April 2019, 16:48
Good to hear that.
Didi
27th April 2019, 17:44
Russel made an interesting point about the tyres really being designed for the top three teams in terms of temperature windows. And as Williams is 3-4 seconds off the pace they are really finding it difficult to get heat into them.
Its already a poor car but having that issue as well must be like driving on ice!
Phylyp (@phylyp)
27th April 2019, 17:55
While it might be true, I wouldn’t think it’s some manner of conspiracy where Pirelli favours the top 3 teams.
I think its more a factor of a virtuous cycle – when things start going right, it results in a positive feedback cycle. Any team that is in a dominant position often experiences this – so Mercedes today, RBR prior to that, etc. It’s a situation where it looks like even chance favours the team in question, let alone the team itself nailing distinct things like setup, strategy, pit stops, etc.
Likewise, being able to extract the best out of Pirelli rubber might be a similar factor.
(Seriously drunk here, forgive me if this makes no sense!)
Alianora La Canta (@alianora-la-canta)
30th April 2019, 6:47
@phylyp You make so much sense that this is a concept taught in GCSE Geography classes (“positive multiplier effect” being the fancy term) for explaining quite a lot of different things. (Along with its correlate, negative multiplier effect, which very much looks like Williams’ situation).
Phylyp (@phylyp)
30th April 2019, 6:52
@alianora-la-canta :)
Jimmie in LA (@)
27th April 2019, 20:13
I’ve always really liked Kubica, but when does the Williams team start to look to Ocon as a replacement?
pastaman (@)
27th April 2019, 20:28
They already did before the season started, he didn’t want to go there.
bogaaaa (@nosehair)
27th April 2019, 22:57
When does Claire stand down? the moral must be awful for everyone wearing the Williams uniform
Jason Blankenship (@jblank)
28th April 2019, 0:15
If I was ultra-wealthy, I’d call Claire Williams and sponsor them for the next three years if they could use their cars to take out Bottas and Hamilton tomorrow. It would be nice to actually get a good, competitive race.