Pirelli's Paul Hembery says the tyre supplier is open to the possibility of hiring the recovering Robert Kubica as their test driver for next season.
Paul Hembery says Pirelli would be happy to take on recovering Pole as tyre tester
Robert Kubica's path back to Formula 1 could come via Pirelli after the sport's tyre supplier suggested they were open to the possibility of the Pole becoming their test driver in 2013.
Kubica has been out of the sport since the start of 2011 when he suffered horrific hand and arm injuries in a rally accident but in recent weeks has given hope that he can eventually return to top-level motorsport competition in some capcity by competing in two rallies in Italy - the first of which he won.
Although it is believed the 27-year-old's most likely initial route back into full-time motorsport is indeed in rallying, with the movement of his arm not yet sufficient for mobility in an F1 cockpit, Pirelli's Motorsport Director Paul Hembery has nonetheless raised the spectre of Kubica carrying out their tyre testing duties next season if he is ready for it.
That role is currently filled by Toro Rosso exile Jaime Alguersuari but the young Spaniard is expecting return to the F1 grid next season, with the latest speculation linking him with Force India.
"We are more likely to work with Robert in rallying I guess, rather than F1, but we will see," Hembery said in Singapore.
"I haven't spoken to Robert for some time, but we are working on a few projects that might involve him, so it might be a possibility.
"I don't know if he is able to do it at the moment. But he is that type of person if, physically, he could get back in, maybe doing a year with us would put him in a good situation to come back in in 2014. It would be wonderful if we could do that.
"We want to continue our success level of helping drivers into F1, and after an F1 drive the Pirelli test deal has to be the best drive in the world."
