Former Formula 1 race winner Robert Kubica, is continuing to talk up his chances of a full return to the sport, as the BBC reports a second Renault test is planned.
Last month expectations were raised after the 32-year-old completed 115 laps in a 2012 Lotus in Valencia, his first action behind the wheel of an F1 car since his near career-ending rally crash in Italy in 2011.
Over the weekend the Pole was driving again at the Goodwood Festival of Speed in the UK, and, when a few years ago he put his F1 comeback chances at just 10 or 20 percent, now he claims: “Because I’m very realistic and I’m keeping my feet on the ground, I’d put it at 80 or 90 percent.”
Kubica also admits his current situation is well beyond what he could have hoped for, with limited movements in his right arm thought to be detrimental to his chances of making it back to the pinnacle of motorsport.
“I was shocked, to be honest, it was really, really impressive, feeling-wise,” he said of being back in an F1 car
“I’m not talking about pace there – a few tenths here, a few tenths there – but the feeling and the impression I had, straight away, were amazing.
“You build up your own question marks, based on how you know yourself and your body and then if you’d asked me about them after even the first run at Valencia, they were gone, gone, gone, gone,” he added.
“Once my comfort, or let’s say limitation things, were gone in three laps, I could concentrate on trying to get back to the proper rhythm, I’m surprised how it felt.”
Further stoking the perceived possibility of a return is the current driver situation at Renault, with Jolyon Palmer under pressure to perform and speculation that Kubica was faster than reserve driver Sergey Sirotkin.
Though the Enstone-based team itself continues to downplay the possibility, if that speculation is true then Kubica could well be the ideal choice to help the French manufacturer towards their goal of once again winning the F1 championship.
On that goal, Nico Hulkenberg, who himself only joined at the beginning of this year, believes the pre-2020 target set by managing director Cyril Abiteboul is still an attainable one.
“The team is moving in the right direction,” Hulkenberg was quoted by Sky Sports. “There is a lot of good stuff coming and in the pipeline for a later point in the season. All the signs are good and encouraging.
“We are on target and we are where l expected us to be.”
However, he would admit: “The gap to the front is big. We need a lot of performance. Next year, we want to be well into the top 10 all the time, so we have to make a big step to fulfil those expectations.”