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News confirmed on BBC sport - good for all parties and glad to see Robert back I like him

Williams Martini Racing Confirms Robert Kubica as Race Driver for 2019


Williams Martini Racing is delighted to announce Robert Kubica will complete the team’s driver line-up for 2019, partnering George Russell in the 2019 FIA Formula One World Championship.


Robert impressed the team after conducting several tests for Williams in 2017 before taking on the role of Reserve & Development Driver for the team for the 2018 season. During this time Robert has spent extensive time working both trackside and at the factory, also having the opportunity to drive the FW41 during official testing and a number of FP1 practice sessions.


The 2017 tests marked Robert’s return to an F1 car after he sustained severe injuries in a rallying accident in 2011, which temporarily put his career on hold.


Prior to his accident, Robert achieved a total of 12 podiums and went on to claim his maiden F1 pole position and victory in 2008, when he finished a career-best fourth in the Drivers’ Championship. The Formula One race-winner made his F1 debut in 2006 and recorded a podium finish inside his first three races, marking him as one of the sport’s most promising young talents.


Robert has completed a rigorous rehabilitation programme to prepare for the upcoming season, and looks forward to joining his teammate George Russell, who enters his rookie year in Formula One, in 2019.


Speaking about the announcement, Robert Kubica said; “Firstly, I would like to thank everyone who has helped me during what was a difficult period of my life over these last few years. It has been a challenging journey to make it back to the Formula One grid, but what seemed almost impossible is now beginning to feel possible, as I am excited to be able to say that I will be on the Formula One grid in 2019.


“For sure, it has been a long road to get to this point, but as that challenge now comes to an end with this announcement, a new challenge begins working with Williams on track. It will not be easy, but with hard work and dedication, both George and myself will work together to try and help the team get in better shape to move further up the grid. This year has been tough, but I have learnt a lot, and I’d like to thank Sir Frank and Claire for this opportunity.


“Being back on the F1 grid next season will be one of the greatest achievements of my life, and I’m sure with hard work and commitment we will be able to help motivate the team to achieve good things together. Thank you again to everyone who has supported me and believed in me. I will finally be back on the grid behind the wheel of an F1 car, and I cannot wait to get back racing.”


Claire Williams, Deputy Team Principal, commented; “I am delighted to announce that Robert will be stepping up to the role of Race Driver to partner George in 2019. All of us at Williams have been immensely impressed at what he has achieved, and it is a great credit to his strength of character and tenacity to return to Formula One.


“During this season his commitment to the team and the work he has put in behind the scenes has been unwavering, and he has become an established and much respected member of the Williams team. He has a level of determination that is remarkable to see; and he truly embodies the Williams fighting spirit. Having the consistency of Robert stepping up into this new role will be an important step for us as we look to fight our way back towards the front of the field. I am also excited to have a mixture of youth and experience to lead us into 2019 and we look forward to seeing what they can achieve on track. I would also like to thank Lance and Sergey for their hard work in what has been a challenging season. We wish them all the best for their future careers.”

Claire: [twitter.com]

Finally some more good news amongst a year of total disasters.

Finally!

3 MORE BITS OF CHAFF GONE.

SMEDLEY, SERGE, LANCE.

WITH ALL DUE RESPECT OF COURSE.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 22/11/2018 11:50 by GPL.

Good morning,

I want to be excited by this, but I have a big nagging doubt.

Will we find that Kubica is fast but crashes a lot?

My thinking is that the much discussed hand might become an issue when the car does something unexpected.

There have been a number of remarks that appear to have come from Robert himself saying that he presses on the steering wheel rather than grasping it.

This clearly seems to work most of the time, but when it comes to the race weekend a single case when it doesn't work may see the car in the wall.

Whilst I am sure that Williams have considered this possibility as either non existent or one that is a reasonable risk to take , are they biased by the sponsorship he is bringing?

Only time will tell.

Bye

Ian

I think Ian has a valid concern but I think if Robert was able to drive a Rally. Car again after his accident, surely that would be more intense and violent than anything a formula 1 car could throw at him.

As far as I was aware it was always the tight cockpit and rotational issues that were of concern in single seaters. A position in the car that dictates a different driving position. Strength over a Grand prix distance might be of concern but I'm sure he has done a grand prix distance on the sim. Hopefully more actual car time will now aid his progress.

Sure it is just for the moneys but it is the correct choice at the moment. If the chassis is no good, just waste of money to have a top driver, like what I said in the beginning of this season. Once u get a winning chassis, worthwhile to pay to get a top driver to fight for higher positions, or even the title. So need not think too much about how kubica can drive the car fast. But his response for developing the car is of bigger value.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 23/11/2018 09:22 by Carinni.

Quote:

IanSmithISA
Good morning,
I want to be excited by this, but I have a big nagging doubt.

Will we find that Kubica is fast but crashes a lot?

My thinking is that the much discussed hand might become an issue when the car does something unexpected.

There have been a number of remarks that appear to have come from Robert himself saying that he presses on the steering wheel rather than grasping it.

This clearly seems to work most of the time, but when it comes to the race weekend a single case when it doesn't work may see the car in the wall.

Whilst I am sure that Williams have considered this possibility as either non existent or one that is a reasonable risk to take , are they biased by the sponsorship he is bringing?

Only time will tell.

Bye

Ian

Fortunately the very basics they can simulate his full range of motions in the simulator. What they cannot simulate though is g force. He has done a lot of running with no suggestion that he's just gonna bury the car in the wall, nor that his arm will cause him any hindrance at 6g. Watching him do the hairpin at abu dhabi doesn't look brilliant, but we shall see. As we know nothing about his real pace, it's difficult to be overly positive or negative at this point.

I'll just leave this here.The human story is just too difficult for me to ignore above all the noise spouted on this and other boards.

Quote:

Five and a half hours into the 2016 Le Mans 24 hours race, the cameras cut to the garages to show the rather unusual sight of a driver being hoisted into his car with the assistance of his mechanics.
The man in question was Frédéric Sausset and he was about to make history by becoming the first quadruple amputee to compete in the iconic race. Not only did Sausset manage to finish the race, with the help of teammates Christophe Tinseau and Jean-Bernard Bouvet, but he also had the privilege to be on the podium in front of tens of thousands of fans.

Speaking about the human story...

There has been hardly a public person in the paddock who didn’t greet and congratulate Robert on his return.

Williams’ own TD didn’t.

There is some information surfacing that it was Paddy who orchestrated the whole Sirotkin thing (indeed he was very vocal on his qualities), making his achievements in Williams looking even less stellar. It would really add insult to injury of being accountable for making one of the worst cars in the team history.

Isn’t he not speaking because hardly anyone, including Claire, would care to listen any longer?

That sounds way off the mark.
I can very much remember this time of last year the word around everywhere (here included) was that how much Paddy pushed for Kubica & got disappointed by Sirotkin taking the seat...It was a pure guess by Kubica's fans by the time without any source and now a year has gone and another claim without any source.

The "they don't listen to Lowe anymore" part is funny too.If he is there and is a TD with some possible shares, he is there to be listened.What do you mean of that? It's not a family thing.If the owners didn't believe him they could very much show him the door.

The only reason you can think of Lowe not being happy with Kubica joining can be his performance.Afterall Paddy knows the best where he is, better than anybody else...But to me, that's not the case.

---

Quote:

Sweeper
Speaking about the human story...
There has been hardly a public person in the paddock who didn’t greet and congratulate Robert on his return.

Williams’ own TD didn’t.

There is some information surfacing that it was Paddy who orchestrated the whole Sirotkin thing (indeed he was very vocal on his qualities), making his achievements in Williams looking even less stellar. It would really add insult to injury of being accountable for making one of the worst cars in the team history.

Isn’t he not speaking because hardly anyone, including Claire, would care to listen any longer?

Oh, he is speaking allright.

Quote:

ihme
Oh, he is speaking allright.

Looks allright, too I guess it is dawning on Paddy, that having fired everyone to whom he could attribute this year's f*.* up, and with a driver who is not exactly known for being a technically naive rookie, he'd better have the car flying at the winter tests. Just sayin'...

Pretty sure he just spends less time st the track as he's more use in the factory.

Agree with Mike. We need him in the design shop as much as possible right now.

I think there is little point speculating about KUB until we see him run a few races. It appears that SMP was unwilling to continue so in the end the team have taken him for the money. BUT, also he has bags of natural talent.

If we build a fast car and he can't drive it, at least we have his cash and RUS to do a good job once he settles. If it turns out he still has the speed and the injury has little impact, we are quids in!! KUB was certainly WDC material before and RUS I think will be too. So we've come out of this quite well.

I feel sorry for Sirotkin in all of this. He seemed a nice enough chap and we will never know how good he could have been. Looking forward to pre season testing. Russell is pretty awesome and I'm still surprised we've got him. Kubica will hopefully be a reliable driver who can just do well from the get go and take the pressure of the rookie having to deliver from round 1

Paddy has a point to prove now.
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