Robert Kubica believes he has proven himself still capable of racing in Formula 1 in his comeback year at Williams.
The Pole first made efforts to return in 2017, completing several tests with Renault before eventually becoming reserve driver at the Grove-based squad and stepping up for this year.
By his own admittance, however, the much-anticipated comeback has fallen short of expectations, though he says not because of his own performance.
“It was my goal that people didn’t see me as the one who has almost lost an arm,” he told Italy’s La Gazzetta dello Sport.
“I wanted to be evaluated like the other drivers and with numbers, but the numbers, for me and Williams, are not there.
“It was not the year we hoped for also because, beyond the performances, there were other situations to solve, but for me there is a lot of positives, unfortunately, overshadowed by the numbers on the timesheet.
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“When you don’t have the chance to get to the results you were hoping for, the important thing is to be aware of the work you have done,” he argued.
“You have to be a tough judge on yourself while maintaining a sense of reality. My body has reacted well and shown that my limitations are more visible outside the car than in the cockpit.
“I knew it was like that, but if I hadn’t tried it I couldn’t have shown it. Despite all that happened to me and despite the last few years, which have been very hard, I’m still an F1 driver.”
Despite his self-satisfaction and actually scoring Williams’ only point in Germany, it can’t be overlooked that Kubica has been largely dominated by his teammate George Russell.
“I am a sportsman, I am a fighter. I have to be honest fighting for 19th place doesn’t interest me,” he claimed.
“I really don’t care. I don’t care to finish above my team-mate if I can only finish 19th but this does not mean that I don’t give the maximum.”
Indeed, having often upset the top teams with BMW and Renault in his first stint in F1, Kubica noted how such situations are no longer possible.
“There are some things that drive me mad,” he said. “I am leaving a completely different F1 compared to the one of 9 years ago.
“Now there are two Formula 1s; the one that starts in the first 3 rows and the others. These are two different sports.”
The 35-year-old isn’t expected to fall too far from the F1 grid for 2020 as a reserve driver deal at Haas is expected, including some Friday outings.
“Yes I have an offer for another type of job but for the moment I would love to keep driving with a top team,” he said.
“It won’t be easy and it won’t depend only on me.”