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Williams F1 team hands Robert Kubica free practice drive at Spanish GP
Robert Kubica missed out on a seat this season at Williams F1 team after being tested for a potential Formula One comeback seven years after suffering life-changing injuries in a rally crash.
Robert Kubica will get a taste of a Formula One (F1) weekend for the first time since 2010 behind the wheel of a Williams in practice at the Spanish Grand Prix on Friday.
Kubica missed out on a seat this season after being tested for a potential F1 comeback seven years after suffering life-changing injuries in a rally crash.
The 33-year-old Polish reserve and development driver will be back on track at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, stepping in for Sergey Sirotkin in FP1.
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Williams chief technical officer Paddy Lowe is looking forward to receiving feedback from Kubica after he puts the FW41 through its paces.
“We come to Spain this weekend and the very demanding Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya. They say that the car that is quickest around here is generally going to be quickest at most races in the season,” said Lowe.
“It is the first race where traditionally you see many more upgrades arriving, as we are back to our truck-based logistics rather than airfreight which has seen us through the first four events.
“We are bringing a reasonably significant upgrade to this race, but probably not different to most other teams. It’s going to be a busy weekend for us.
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“We have Robert Kubica taking part in FP1 in place of Sergey; his first of three FP1 appearances this season. We have a busy Friday programme and it will be interesting to get Robert’s feedback on the car.
“Sergey has driven many laps of this track in pre-season testing so he won’t miss out too much. We also have two days of testing following the race with our official young driver Oliver Rowland, and Robert, and we have a huge programme to fit into those two days to make progress with the development of the car.”
