No F1 thread?

[Jezh]

If true this has got to be great news. Just need to give him a good enough car

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/formula1/46258911

[Gavin]

I wonder if it will be the fairy tale we all hope for. On the form of the last few years the Williams will not be near the front. Hopefully with the regs changing they can move back up the grid but I wouldn't be putting money on it.

[DeskJockey]

Was he that good? Looking at his stats, whether overall or comparing him to his teammate, he's not been that great. In the overall standings the car obviously has a bigger impact, but comparing him to Nick Heidfeld, his teammate over four seasons, he scored less points, although did claim a win and a pole position.

[Mito Man]

Considering Schumacher’s comeback efforts in a midfield car weren’t great I fear this will be much the same.

[Gavin]

Was he that good? Looking at his stats, whether overall or comparing him to his teammate, he's not been that great. In the overall standings the car obviously has a bigger impact, but comparing him to Nick Heidfeld, his teammate over four seasons, he scored less points, although did claim a win and a pole position.

Just how good was Kubica?
From Sky F1's Mark Hughes:

'"Arguably, in a generation that includes Lewis Hamilton, Fernando Alonso and Sebastian Vettel, he was the best of them all.

"That, incidentally, was the view of Alonso.

"Hamilton regarded him as the best driver he had ever encountered as they made their way through karting and up the junior car racing ladder.

"BMW-Sauber didn't put up a big fight when Red Bull reclaimed its junior driver Vettel because Sauber felt that its other driver, Kubica, was so much quicker. Vettel had taken over Kubica's former role of Friday tester when Robert was promoted to the race team mid-way through 2006 because his Friday performances were simply too sensational to keep him out of a race seat, something that hastened Jacques Villeneuve's departure.

"In many ways that 2006 half-season was his most impressive of all. On the high-grip Michelin tyres the team was contracted to, he was able to take an outrageous momentum into the corners, overlapping the braking and corner entry phases probably better than anyone else of the time. In his Friday role he was fastest of the field by the outrageous margin of two seconds in Montreal and out on track he looked every bit that. His driving through turns 3-4 that day remain imprinted upon my memory.

"It's still visually the fastest I have ever seen anyone drive."

[DeskJockey]

I guess lady luck played her part then, as the comments above does not really tally with his results. If he still is that good there's a possibility he can make it interesting.

[Foz]

I thought physically he was honest enough to say he couldn't cope, his hand/arm is a mess

[Jimmy Choo]

All those comments come from before his accident, though. This year, in response to the question "What do you have to do to get a full time drive in F1?" he replied that as he was over a second faster than both race drivers, he didn't know.

Yes, he was very good, in a car that wasn't and out performed Nick Heidfeld consistently.

I hope he does well but that really does depend on Williams fixing their aero issues and managing to keep the diffuser working when the car goes round corners.

[Mito Man]

The whole Williams shit show has essentially been put down to crap management decisions by Claire who is essentially just Frank’s puppet so it’s not clear if she really is as incompetent as she appears. Think their unwillingness to drop the “family business” shit is going to kill them entirely eventually.

[DeskJockey]

Yes, he was very good, in a car that wasn't and out performed Nick Heidfeld consistently.

That's not how I read the stats (https://www.f1-fansite.com/f1-drivers/robert-kubica/). Heidfeld scored more points in their time together. And won the intra-team battle three of four years.

[Foz]

All those comments come from before his accident, though. This year, in response to the question "What do you have to do to get a full time drive in F1?" he replied that as he was over a second faster than both race drivers, he didn't know.

Yes, he was very good, in a car that wasn't and out performed Nick Heidfeld consistently.

I hope he does well but that really does depend on Williams fixing their aero issues and managing to keep the diffuser working when the car goes round corners.

He was 3/10ths quicker than sirotkin and 6/10’s quicker than stroll based on the early 2018 Williams tests. Which isn’t a lot, an meaningless in isolation.

[IanF]

Watching practice on channel 4. Getting to watch the front tyres with a thermal camera is quite interesting. Want to see one of the rears now please.

Also, amazed to hear that LH is 3rd oldest after Kimi and Kubica. I still consider him as a young upstart!

[tim]

https://www.theplayerstribune.com/en-us ... 1-red-bull

Really good article by Ricciardo about his move to Renault. What a top bloke. Super pleased to see Kubica back too.

[DeskJockey]

Great article. I do hope he starts winning races and fighting for the top spot.

[Coaster1]

Not followed F1 for a few years, but I was reading Alonso’s F1 stats earlier, do you chaps think he underachieved? Did he waste too many years in crap cars?

I thought he was going to dominate after his championships with Renault, and then Lewis and Seb (or perhaps more accurately, Red Bull) came along.

[NotoriousREV]

Not followed F1 for a few years, but I was reading Alonso’s F1 stats earlier, do you chaps think he underachieved? Did he waste too many years in crap cars?

I thought he was going to dominate after his championships with Renault, and then Lewis and Seb (or perhaps more accurately, Red Bull) came along.

An amazing driver hamstrung by his inability to work with his team and making poorly timed decisions. Definitely should have had a couple more championships under his belt.

[Foz]

Not followed F1 for a few years, but I was reading Alonso’s F1 stats earlier, do you chaps think he underachieved? Did he waste too many years in crap cars?

I thought he was going to dominate after his championships with Renault, and then Lewis and Seb (or perhaps more accurately, Red Bull) came along.

An amazing driver hamstrung by his inability to work with his team and making poorly timed decisions. Definitely should have had a couple more championships under his belt.

also a cunt.

[Mito Man]

Call me a dick and I hope he proves me wrong but I can’t see how Kubica will be competitive driving with only one hand
https://www.skysports.com/watch/video/s ... ith-kubica

[Rich B]

Not followed F1 for a few years, but I was reading Alonso’s F1 stats earlier, do you chaps think he underachieved? Did he waste too many years in crap cars?

I thought he was going to dominate after his championships with Renault, and then Lewis and Seb (or perhaps more accurately, Red Bull) came along.

An amazing driver hamstrung by his inability to work with his team and making poorly timed decisions. Definitely should have had a couple more championships under his belt.

good driver, terrible decision maker. His lack of wins is no ones fault apart from his own.

[Orange Cola]

I think DR’s seen something at Renault which makes him think they’re going to be serious contenders, a bit like when lewis went to Merc from McLaren and everyone at the time thought he was bonkers.