Claire Williams: “I will never tell him: “Robert, this gap has to disappear”, because often it has nothing to do with his driving.” (Article in polish)

Translation (DeepL):

“On Friday, the new issue of “F1 Racing” is on sale. Among several interesting materials, you will also find several pages devoted to the return of Robert Kubica to the Formula 1 rate. Based on interviews conducted during the Belgian Grand Prix, journalists of the monthly analyse the difficult situation of the Polish driver in Williams and try to find an answer to the question of his performance against the background of George Russell.

Claire Williams also has a very interesting opinion on this matter. – These differences [between Russell and Kubica] are quite difficult to analyse properly, because sometimes it is one second, sometimes the loss is minimal,” she says. – It has a lot to do with the car and its behaviour. Sometimes we know exactly what [the car] is doing and why, and the lap afterwards is doing something completely different. I’ll never tell him, “Robert, that gap has to disappear,” because it often has nothing to do with Robert’s driving.

Robert himself also speaks about the lack of regularity on the side of the car and its unpredictable behavior. This has been the case since the beginning of the season, and some of the differences in performance and feeling between the two drivers can be explained by the different approach to problem solving – and the different approach to their machines.

– We had some differences in the behaviour of the cars, it was a consequence of our problems at the beginning of the season,” says Kubica. – We [Kubica and Russell] took quite different roads and the cars behaved differently, so our remarks were also different. Now our feedback is similar. There was no regularity in the car. From lap to lap you could feel that things were changing, and when you can’t explain the reasons, it’s hard to understand. I’d say that’s what had the biggest impact this season.

– There are times when you don’t have the pace and three days before you were quite satisfied with the car, but the feeling is gone. Sometimes it changes from day to day. When you try to get through the process of developing and improving your car, this additional confusion does not help. It’s one of those things that you can’t see from the outside, but unfortunately it has a big impact on my regularity and also on how I drive.

F1 Racing material was of course created before Kubica announced its decision to part with Williams after the 2019 season – this year’s most important things were the individual moments, personal goals and achievements, not the results – unfortunately, we are very far from where we hoped to be,” said Kubica at Spa-Francorchamps. – The return was certainly not as smooth as I had hoped. No one will take away what I have achieved in this return – and maybe in the future I will be more satisfied with it than I am now, because now I am focusing on the present.

The most important quote from the whole text? Probably this one: – Finally, I have proven that my limitations do not limit me.

Moreover, in the October edition of “F1 Racing” you will also read about the cover of the issue’s protagonist, Max Verstappen. The lion on his helmet is not only a symbol of Holland, it is also a reference to the character of a hunter, whose game may soon become Lewis Hamilton himself. In addition, you will learn the story of Frédéric Vasseur, who raised many future Formula 1 aces in the junior series – and immediately after starting cooperation with Sauber he blocked cooperation with Honda and reached an agreement with Ferrari/Alla Romeo.

History lovers will be happy to read about the last ever winning McLaren – the MP4-27 model from the 2013 season – and also see impressive photographs from tracks where Formula 1 is no longer a guest. The technical department will tell you what Pirelli’s collaboration with each team looks like – how other teams’ data is shared and what the Italian engineers assigned to each team do during the race weekend.

And since the Polish edition was closed a bit later than the British original – although both versions are published only one day apart – I still managed to write a few sentences in my regular column about Robert Kubica’s decision and possible future possibilities. Traditionally, I invite you to read it – the issue is published on Friday.”