Generational rival praises Kubica ahead of Pole's return to F1 testing on Wednesday; Kubica made return to F1 paddock in Hungary
Thursday 10 August 2017 16:54, UK
Lewis Hamilton has hailed Robert Kubica as "one of the quickest drivers" he has raced against ahead of the Pole's amazing return to F1 testing in Hungary on Wednesday.
After two behind-closed-doors tests in a five-year-old car, Kubica will drive Renault's 2017 challenger on the final day of testing at the Hungaroring in what is being considered the definitive test on whether he is capable of making a racing return to F1 six years after sustaining severe arm injuries in a rallying accident.
Hamilton, who is the same age as Kubica, competed against him in junior formulae and then his first four seasons of F1. The Mercedes driver reckons his fellow 32-year-old might have already been a world champion by now had his career not been interrupted so brutally.
"Robert's one of the quickest drivers I've ever raced against," said Hamilton.
"If he was still racing he'd be up in contention for the world title if not have won one. Just raw natural talent which in the sport is a shame we don't have here with us.
"Not a lot of great, great drivers come through. It filters and then filters down, you have some that are much better than the rest but then still not the greatest. Then you have real special drivers like him."
Hamilton is not driving at the Budapest test, but says he will be following Kubica's progress from afar.
"I'm really happy he's doing a test and I'll have a keen eye to see how he's doing, how his test is going and whether or not he's going to be racing," added the triple world champion.
"It would be great if he is able to if he can physically."
Kubica back in the F1 paddock...six years on
Having stayed away from the sport since his horrific accident in an Italian rally six-and-a-half years ago, Kubica was the centre of attention on his return to the paddock in Hungary on Tuesday - despite not driving Renault's car for another 24 hours.
Wednesday's test will be his first alongside other drivers since he set the pace for the same Enstone team at the first pre-season of 2011, three days before the accident in a one-off appearance in a low-key rally which left him with a partially severed arm.
Renault have confirmed the one-day outing in their current RS17 car is being used to determine "what conditions it would be possible for Robert to return to competition in the upcoming years".
Kubica told Sky F1 in June he was targeting a "proper comeback" after being encouraged by his performance in his first comeback test in Valencia.
Although he is thought to have driven Renault's 2017 challenger on the simulator, his Budapest test outing is considered the first acid test of whether the still-restricted movement of his right arm would be prohibitive to a full comeback.
Robert Kubica in F1…the story so far
Poland's only F1 driver had established a reputation as one of the grid's most talented and promising stars during four years in the sport in which he won the 2008 Canadian GP and finished on the podium 12 times in 76 races.
After making his F1 test debut with Renault at the end of 2005, Kubica impressed as BMW Sauber's third driver in practice sessions at the start of 2006 to the point where the team dropped former world champion Jacques Villeneuve from a race seat to accommodate the 21-year-old from that year's Hungarian GP.
Kubica finished third at Monza in just his third race and then sixth in the 2007 Drivers' Championship during his first full season, although was fortunate to not sustain serious injury in a ferocious accident at that year's Canadian GP when his car became airborne, struck a concrete wall and barrel rolled across the track.
A year later, however, and Kubica was a race winner in Montreal as he claimed what stands as his only F1 victory and with it the lead of the world championship for the first time.
Although Lewis Hamilton and Felipe Massa emerged as the season's leading two title protagonists, Kubica remained in mathematical contention until the penultimate round despite BMW turning off development on their 2008 car.
The expectation was that, by starting full-time work on their 2009 challenger earlier, BMW would emerge as strong title contenders for the first year of F1's new rules era.
However, those lofty ambitions fell flat.
The launch of a noticeably 'boxy' F1.09 car to meet the sport's new aero rules didn't bode well and BMW were duly a long way off the pace for most of the season, with Kubica not scoring until the seventh round in Turkey. But there were flashes of the Pole's brilliance with fourth at Spa and second at Interlagos as the team made belated late ground.
When BMW announced mid-season they were quitting F1 at the end of 2009, Kubica unexpectedly found himself on the driver market, although Renault soon swooped for one of F1's hottest properties to replace the Ferrari-bound Fernando Alonso.
With Renault, after their own deeply troubled 2009, returning to form with new owners in 2010, Kubica was often back among the leading runners with podiums in Australia, Monaco and Spa his standout results.
2011 began in similarly promising fashion when Kubica topped the opening pre-season test in Renault's new car in Valencia but within three days his career was hanging in the balance after a one-off participation in a minor Italian rally, the Ronda di Andora, turned agonisingly sour.
After a long period of intensive rehabilitation, Kubica returned to driving in World Rally in 2013, winning the World Rally 2 championship before stepping up to the main class. He tested sportscars last year and earlier in 2017 made his single-seater return with tests in GP3 and Formula E machinery.
But, from an F1 perspective, the best may be yet to come.
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