For Robert Kubica fanatics, things could be considered to be going really well at the moment despite a largely disappointing season with Williams. Last weekend he advanced to the top 10 scoring William’s first point of the season at the German Grand Prix.
The result was fortuitous however, with the two Alfa Romeo drivers Kimi Räikkönen and Antonio Giovinazzi each receiving 30-second penalities, Kubica ended up P10 instead of P12. As things stand at present, he has just set a new Formula 1 record for the longest period between two points. Alfa Romeo has since protested against the Hockenheim penalties and the final decision is therefore still open.
Kubica’s anticipation of the Hungarian Grand Prix this weekend doesn’t just include this pending result, however, at the Hungaroring, the Pole can be sure of the support of around 40,000 of Polish following. Indeed, the organisers expect this astonishing number of Polish fans to be true, based on the number of advance ticket sales.
Kubica received a foretaste of the fanatical crowd set to cheer on the one-armed wonder during yesterday’s F1 fan event.
Kubica appeared on stage together with his Williams team mate George Russell, and the Formula 1 rookie from the UK couldn’t resist toasting “ROB-ERT, KUB-IC-A!” with the microphone in front of thousands of fans, sending them literally out of control for their man.
“Hungary is the race closest to Poland. So it’s no surprise that many Polish fans find their way to the track. But of course it’s beautiful every time. Of course, I’d like to thank you with a good performance, but the course of the season so far should make it difficult. I hope they will enjoy their weekend anyway.”
Hilarious (fake) Japanese commentary – Vettel / Vestappen crash
For Kubica, the Hungarian Grand Prix is a very special race not only because of its proximity to its home country. In 2006 he made his Formula 1 debut at this Grand Prix. At BMW Sauber he replaced Jacques Villeneuve, who had been knocked out after the German Grand Prix.
For Kubica it was the beginning of a three-and-a-half-year phase as a regular driver in the Swiss team, which he crowned with victory at the 2008 Canada Grand Prix. For the 2010 season he then moved to Renault, where he scored for the last time at the final race in Abu Dhabi before the 2019 German Grand Prix.
Whether Kubica will actually be allowed to keep his point from Hockenheim has not yet been decided in view of Alfa Romeo’s protests against the penalty(s).
“I have mixed feelings. Of course, it’s great to have this one point on your account. But the way it came about wasn’t the way I expected it to be. It was a crazy race with a lot of mistakes. Our pace was questionable, but we managed to stay on the track. When Alfa was punished it meant winning two positions.
“That would made us tenth. But we still have to work hard.”
One wonders if we see an incident with Kubica on the short and twisty circuit, quite how 40,000 plus fanatics might react and just how the Hungarian organisers might control them.
Here’s what Verstappen thinks of Leclerc
Red Bull Racing driver Max Verstappen doesn’t think it’s fair that Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc only received a fine in the Germany GP when his team let the Monegasque driver go at the wrong moment during a pit stop.
In the end, it made no difference to Charles Leclerc, because the German GP had ended for the Ferrari star after just 27 laps when the youngster made his mistake, taking his Ferrari into the barriers.
Verstappen and Leclerc’s ‘incident’ at the Austrian Grand Prix
After a tyre change, his Ferrari team let him go at the wrong moment, which led to a dangerous situation, requiring Haas driver Romain Grosjean to instantly react to avoid a potentially lethal incident in the pits.
The team was fined 5,000 euros, instead of a time penalty for Leclerc and it did not go down well with…………. READ MORE
Abiteboul says Hulkenberg has mental issues, will be dropped?
learly, Renault team boss Cyril Abiteboul had trouble digesting Nico Hulkenberg’s crash at the German Grand Prix last Sunday.
The Renault driver was fighting for his very first podium, but after a driving error on a wet track, the German went into the wall, retiring from the race. The words chosen by Abiteboul are strong, and are certainly not insignificant in the midst of discussions about the future of German at Renault.
“It’s a tough sport, very tough. We could have had a nice light on a season that is very complicated for us. It could have been very encouraging. Now, honestly, what we need is………….. READ MORE
Renault admits trick DRS increases HP & disclose total power output
You know I hate doing these types of articles, but sometimes a very juicy story appears on my favourite German F1 and Motorport website Auto Motor und Sport, I don’t have time to regurgitate it with my opinion thrown in, so I just translate it for you, the valued TJ13 reader.
In essence, the Renault team have admitted their exact…… READ MORE
