Robert Kubica, Williams, Monza, 2019

Kubica heading for Williams exit at end of season

2020 F1 season

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Robert Kubica will not continue to drive for Williams in the 2020 F1 season, RaceFans understands.

But while Kubica is expected to confirm his departure soon, he is known to be seeking opportunities to remain in the sport in some capacity next year.

Racing Point and Haas are among the potential destinations for Kubica next year. Both are set to retain the same race driver line-ups for 2020, indicating Kubica is looking for a third driver role similar to that he occupied at Williams last year.

Kubica’s abilities as a development and simulator driver are highly regarded and his connections would make him a good fit at either team. Steiner, a former World Rally Championship team principal, observed Kubica’s progress in the championship when he returned to competition following his 2011 rally crash.

At Racing Point, Kubica would be reunited with the Stroll family, who he worked with at Williams last season as a development driver.

Kubica’s future in F1 will be connected to the future plans of his backer PKN Orlen, the Polish petrochemicals firm which currently sponsors Williams. It is expected to announce a new tie-up with the Lotos brand to market a new product called Star, which it wishes to promote through F1. RaceFans understands Racing Point representatives visited Orlen’s headquarters earlier this week.

Haas is believed to have held discussions with Kubica but the team did not comment on the matter when asked by RaceFans.

Kubica returned to F1 this year following an eight-year absence due to the injuries he suffered in 2011. He scored the team’s only point of the season so far, at the Hockenheimring, but has been out-qualified by rookie team mate George Russell at every round.

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13 comments on “Kubica heading for Williams exit at end of season”

  1. I think this saves the day for Hulkenberg.
    Yes, i wanted to see him do well, but it has come to a point where i just feel bad for him languishing at the bottom in a slow car.
    Nevertheless, he is in talks with Audi for a seat in DTM. Add to that a third driver role at (say) Williams itself, this is a win–win for all.

    1. I think they need money badly and Hulk is not on Russell’s level (probably). They will hire a Takagi or a Yuji Ide with money, as they’re under survive mod, not racing mod any more, unfortunately.
      I still believe they would pick up Latifi with his dad’s money instead of Vettel without a penny.

  2. Presumably this means Nicholas Latifi is a shoe-in for this seat in 2020?

    1. Yes, I would have thought so!

      1. He needs the required points still for super licence and might fall short in the last races in f2. I believe he needs to finish top 4.

        1. In order to get the license, he needs to finish 5th. I think he will doi it!

  3. ”Haas is believed to have held discussions with Kubica”
    – Whether he had or hadn’t is kind of irrelevant now given the earlier decision to continue with the same pairing beyond the end of the current campaign.

    1. Both [Haas and RP] are set to retain the same race driver line-ups for 2020, indicating Kubica is looking for a third driver role similar to that he occupied at Williams last year.
      Kubica’s abilities as a development and simulator driver are highly regarded and his connections would make him a good fit at either team.

      @jerejj – missed this bit about a dev driver role, did you? :)

    2. It was for a 3rd driver role, I believe the article said.

  4. Can’t help hoping him remaining around F1, though above all I want him to race somehow/somewhere where can perform well again.

    Concerning the Williams seat: I’d say it’s a good move for Williams to take Hulkenberg for a year, and if performing well take Latiffi in 2021. To have him get in next year already would be unwise i’d say, next to superlicense points being needed.

    By 2021 Russell will have a 2 season experience. To have a season with 2 drivers with a combined expierence of 1 season…wouldn’t be my ideal.

  5. It was great to see him coming back. But there weren’t many reasons to celebrate. 25 laps into the AUS GP, I tweeted that he wouldn’t last very long, seeing he was around 1m30s behind Russel. He did recover, and not all was his “fault”, but either he can no longer compete at his best due to his injuries, or his best is not good enough for 2019 F1 and the current drivers (he raced some of them before, but was out for too long, missing out on the evolution of the sport).

  6. Williams won’t take Hulkenberg for the simple fact that they can’t afford him… I’d expect to see Latifi signed pretty quickly.

  7. Really wanted things to come together for Robert but sadly he’s no longer anywhere near his best. I wish him all the best for the future & genuinely hope he ends up in a series where he’ll competitive, or land a developmental role somewhere he can make a real difference.

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