Robert Kubica admits Williams was the ‘worst’ choice for F1 return

Robert Kubica had a short and unsuccessful run with Williams in 2019 when the Polish driver returned to the sport after eight years.

Robert Kubica admits Williams was the ‘worst’ choice for F1 return

Robert Kubica (via IMAGO).

The return of Polish driver Robert Kubica was the highlight of the 2019 F1 season for his fans worldwide. However, the decision to return to Formula 1, racing for Williams might not have been in the best interest as Kubica revealed recently.

Kubica was forced out of racing in Formula 1 in 2011 following a horrific crash while rallying. This crash resulted in a sub-amputation of his right forearm and had to leave the sport. However, the Polish returned to F1 in 2017 with a few tests for Renault and Williams. Subsequently, Robert Kubica became the reserve driver for the Grove-based team in 2018 before receiving the race seat in 2019.

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The 39-year-old returned to F1 with Williams. However, now Robert Kubica reckoned for returning to F1 with a team, he couldn’t have done worse in picking the Grove-based team. Kubica insisted that he had a lot of respect for a few people within the team but the decision to join Williams was at the wrong time and wrong place for the 2008 Canadian GP winner. The British team was in its worst state during that period, ultimately the historic team was sold off to Dorilton Capital just a year later.

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There’s a second thought related to returning to F1 – in terms of the sporting aspect with Williams, I couldn’t have done worse. To be fair – I have a lot of respect for that group [at Williams], because there were quite a few people who really knew what they were doing there. But unfortunately we were at the wrong time and in the wrong place.
Kubica told in an interview with Przeglad Sportowy.

How did Robert Kubica fare against his teammate George Russell?

The 2019 season was miserable for Williams as the Williams FW42 failed to perform well under any circumstances. However, a top-ten finish in the German GP of the season awarded him a single point for the entire season. This single point was the only highlight for Robert Kubica that year. Moreover, this allowed the Polish driver to outperform teammate George Russell.

Robert Kubica and George Russell
Robert Kubica and George Russell (via planetf1).

The Briton was outscored by Robert Kubica back in 2019 at Williams. In hindsight, George Russell had proved the better driver for the majority of the season. As Kubica tried to get upto speed eight years since he last raced in F1. Russell proved his worth by his impressive performances for the next two seasons at the Grove-based team before joining Mercedes in 2022.

Robert Kubica exited the sport immediately after the conclusion of the 2019 season due to his frustrations with the team and the mediocre machinery. The short-lived return of the former driver lost all the hype and hence went out of the news pretty quickly. Finally, Kubica is currently trying his hand at different forms of motorsports after serving as an F1 reserve for Alfa Romeo.

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