Confirmed: Kubica Returns With Williams in 2019

[John Addison]

Always felt he would be multi champion before that rally crash. Good for him to be given the chance one more time. Good on Williams who really have nothing to loose at this stage. Wish him the best but don't think it will last long.

 

[Nico]

I don't think this is the right decision. He won't be able to reach his full potential with only one hand, regardless of the amount of talent showed long time ago, and the love from his fans. Massa already showed us how much a life threatening accident can affect the driver's performance, and I think we all can agree that Robert's crash -and its aftermath- are infinitely worse than Felipe's. To me it feels like Williams chose the attention from the media and fans over actual results, which sadly is in line with what they have done in the last few years. It's a damn shame what Ocon did in Brazil, I truly believe a young talent like him with tons of future deserved this seat much more even if Williams doesn't come out of the negative spiral. Don't see Robert standing a long time in F1.

*gets pelted with negatives*

 

[Caramidaru Andrei Bogdan]

I am very happy for him and for those who doubt please go and listen "Beyond the grid" official F1 podcast with TC. I am not saying he will do great but for sure he is not driving with just one hand.
TC has a great interview with him, very very insightful

 

[Enagee]

Be cruel not to take him on after all this time , Williams have always take too long to decide on drivers. Looks like they are learning from their mistakes. Too early for Williams to have 2 young drivers.

 

[Jolero02]

Even if he is no longer the driver he used to be, the fact that Williams have a promisingly Rookie driver paired with the knowledge and expirience of Kubica (rather than two Rookies, Pay drivers or not) is great for Williams as well as F1.

 

[RichardHessels]

Which is one of the reasons the weight limit has been increased, drivers have recently spoke about the challenges of the current restrictions. Muscle as we all know is heavy, so they cannot bulk too much.

But that was not only about muscles but also about lenght.
So a bit larger drivers could also be fitted in a F1 car.
Have a look how large Rudy is compared to his colleagues.
@Rudy van Buren is just over 190 cm but many F1 drivers are the size horse-riding jockeys.

 

[Stanislav Minakov]

Williams just needs another dose of money, as they needed it at the start, when they hired Sirotkin. And everybody called SIR paid driver. And now Kubica is just another paid driver.
Just some oil money from Orlen. F1 keeps crushing careers and potentials.

 

[Helmut Skrdla]

I'd rather have an interesting and likeable mid-grid performer than the fastest drivers with the personality of an ice cube (Schumi in his early years, Vettel in his early years etc...)

Webber, Button, Alonso, Massa... a lot of charismatic old hands left the past years. Kubica might just be a reason to watch F1 again.

 

[Koen Verlinde]

Not quite clear what he's trying to accomplish with Williams though. Someone tell him that it's not 2007 anymore.

 

[Bram Hengeveld]

Not quite clear what he's trying to accomplish with Williams though. Someone tell him that it's not 2007 anymore.

I think that question is not very hard to answer is it? He prefers to race in F1 rather than sit at the sideline and not race in F1.

 

[welshtoast]

Not really happy with this. Kubica is essentially a paydriver now. He was slower than Sirotkin or not much faster in most outings as well. And Ocon is even faster than Sirotkin. From what I´ve seen the Kubica fans are on the same level of toxicity as Verstappen fans which can only lead to great things on social media.
Congrats to Robert for the comeback, but personally I am not very happy with this decision.

 

[F_B]

At least Williams has two good drivers next season, hope they can improve.

 

[Koen Verlinde]

I think that question is not very hard to answer is it? He prefers to race in F1 rather than sit at the sideline and not race in F1.

With all that money he has to pay himself into one of the worst teams right now, he could just as well pay himself a seat into a good team in Blancpain, WEC, IMSA etc etc.

 

[Kakusso]

Kubica is a driver with extraordinary talent. Williams will certainly benefit from a experienced driver. The lack of that experience lead Williams to the state it is now. Kubica is almost as good as Kimy Raikonen.

 

[gamer19]

Yes!

 

[RobertGracie]

So much win! its great to see him back in the sport!

 

[keto95]

Sirotkin's sponsor isn't willing to further cooperate with Williams anymore.
They're not happy with the poor performance and developement of the team this year, so they end their relationship.
They continue sponsoring Sirotkin, although in a different class.
That opened the door for Kubica's return.
After all Williams need the money. Let's see if it's the right move.

 

[wombat999]

Robert Kubica is inspirational, he is a very capable driver, but he is too old, handicapped sufficiently to fail to realise his previous level of performance and is on board with arguably the worst team in the field. I doubt he has the race pace he had in his previous F1 career and I think it will be sad to see him running at the back of the field.
I would like to see him do well but the odds are well and truly stacked against him.
Sad.

 

[Mike Kadlcak]

Don’t see any issues for Robert as long F1 has powersteering. 2019 new rule is welcomed for the tall drivers... no more hungered down drivers.

 

[John-Eric Saxén]

Robert Kubica is inspirational, he is a very capable driver, but he is too old, handicapped sufficiently to fail to realise his previous level of performance and is on board with arguably the worst team in the field. I doubt he has the race pace he had in his previous F1 career and I think it will be sad to see him running at the back of the field.
I would like to see him do well but the odds are well and truly stacked against him.
Sad.

A 33 year old driver is now too old? I don't think it's a good development that F1 teams only hire under 20 year old drivers and then few years later 90% of them get kicked out with a "career over" stamp.