Sergey Sirotkin has played down any thoughts of tension between himself and Robert Kubica after beating the Pole to the second seat at Williams for 2018.
Though many believe his greater financial backing was a decisive factor, the young Russian put in an impressive performance with the British team at the post-season test in Abu Dhabi last November, outpacing the former Grand Prix winner.
In doing so, it prevented what was a much hoped for return for Kubica, seven years after a rally crash as thought to have ended his Formula 1 career, but the 22-year-old doesn’t think that will result in any hard feelings.
“I don’t think so, and I think that’s a sign of my great respect for him. He’s an experienced person,” he said in an interview with Motorsport.com.
“I understand his position, I truly respect him, he’s achieved so much, but we’re not here to be these good kids yielding and giving way to each other.”
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Kubica has been kept on by Williams as reserve and development driver for 2018 and maintains his goal of once again lining up on the grid in F1, so for Sirotkin he doesn’t have any guilt of beating the 33-year-old.
“To be honest, we’ve many times touched upon that subject – painful for some, not so for others – but you saw it, myself and Robert, we’re talking here,” the former F2 driver stated.
“It’s every man for himself and he understands it just as well. It happened the way it happened and I think we’ve got a normal relationship.”
