Jul.20 (GMM) Robert Kubica says the idea of testing this year’s Renault car does not faze him.
Speculation the former grand prix winner could return to F1 after a more than six year absence is gaining traction, after Renault gave him two recent outings in the 2012 car.
Team boss Cyril Abiteboul says he is happy with the result, but will not comment on reports the next step for the 32-year-old is a post-Hungarian GP test in the 2017 car, perhaps a Friday practice session, and even a race seat to replace struggling Jolyon Palmer.
“I don’t want to add to the speculation,” said the Frenchman.
“Right now the focus is on getting the most out of the current lineup and package that we have, and then we’ll be thinking about 2018 in due course.”
Kubica, however, said that despite the limited movement in his permanently injured right arm, even the thought of driving the ultra-fast 2017 cars no longer bother him.
“The differences are mainly in cornering performance, but this is only a matter of habit and work,” he told the Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera.
“If the others can do it, I do not see why I shouldn’t be able to as well.
“So if before Renault had the courage and confidence to let me try, let’s say I can match that now,” said the former BMW and Renault driver.
“It will take training and preparation, but I now know that I can get back to the driver I was before. And without false modesty, I can say that my level in 2010 was high,” he continued.
“I realise now that I have managed to take back what fate took from me in that accident in 2011.
“When I saw the car ready for me in the box at Valencia, I thought ‘This is the passion I have always felt, this is my life’. At the second test at Le Castellet, the feeling was even clearer.
“I knew I did not have to worry and felt a sense of peace in the cockpit that had been missing for six years. The rest happened almost by magic and remains with me, no matter what happens next,” Kubica added.