Apr.9 (GMM) Renault considers Robert Kubica to have been a driver with incredible potential that 'got away' from the French team.
Kubica, BMW-Sauber's 22-year-old racer who in recent grands prix has been a regular occupier of the front row of the grid and the podium, was earlier in his career closely linked with Renault.As a teenager, he was part of the Renault driver development programme."At some point we were doing a bit of rationalisation about (the programme) and unfortunately we lost him," Renault F1 engineering chief Pat Symonds says.Later, in 2005, a 19-year-old Kubica won a test with the formula one team as a prize for securing the World Series by Renault crown."After that drive, I was very, very keen that we follow on with him. He really was most impressive in testing and I really wanted to do something with him," Symonds added."He wasn't too keen at the time, and of course later we found out that he was on the verge of signing a deal with BMW."I feel that he was one that got away from us," Symonds said.
