Robert Kubica ‘20% ready’ ahead of F1 comeback

Williams driver Robert Kubica reportedly only believes that he is 20% ready ahead of his F1 comeback. After recovering from a serious head injury that was sustained in 2011, Kubica will finally make his comeback in two weeks’ time.

The 34-year-old made his F1 debut at the 2006 Hungarian Grand Prix and recorded his first and only win in the 2008 Canadian Grand Prix.

He was highly rated as a young driver, drawing comparisons to Lewis Hamilton. Many believed that he was worthy of going on to become a world champion. He also managed an impressive 12 podiums while racing for BMW Sauber and the Renault F1 team.

However, Kubica’s career was shortened in 2011 after suffering a serious injury in a rally crash in Italy. After extensive rehabilitation, the Pole will finally make his return to elite motorsport.

Unsettled preparations for Williams

Williams’ preparations for the upcoming World Championship have been unsettled due to delays to their FW42 car, and the team ended pre-season in last place in both lap time as well as mileage. During his three days in the car in Barcelona, Kubica managed just 268 laps, which was the fewest of any driver on the grid.

It looks like Williams are going to have a very challenging year ahead of them. Kubica is a very experienced driver and may be able to get the best out of the car, but it remains to be seen whether even a driver of his calibre will be able to record points with the car.

‘That’s the situation – I cannot change it’

While reflecting on the situation, Kubica did not sound too confident. “That’s the situation, I cannot change it,” Kubica said. “I have to make sure we are doing everything what we can, from my side.

“Coming back after eight years, probably I know 20% of the things that I should know before going to Australia. The rest is unknown. I haven’t done longer than 15 laps long run. There is a lot of question marks. But that’s the reality, we cannot change it.

“My last real run when I feel the car well was [Wednesday] afternoon, first run, when the car did things which I was surprised [by], a really nice surprise. So I get up really a lot of confidence, but since then my confidence has disappeared, because the car was not in the right state.”

Featured image credit: “Williams FW42 / Robert Kubica / ROKiT Wi” (CC BY-SA 2.0) by Renzopaso