F1 2019 - News & Rumours

https://www.williamsf1.com/racing/n...e-rokit-williams-racing-at-end-of-2019-season

ROKiT Williams Racing can confirm that Robert Kubica has decided to leave the team at the end of the 2019 Formula One racing season.

Robert impressed the team after conducting several tests for Williams in 2017, which resulted in him taking on the role of Reserve & Development Driver for the 2018 season. In 2019, he stepped up to a race driver role, partnering George Russell and scoring the team’s first point of the year at the German Grand Prix.

Robert Kubica said: “I would like to thank the team for the last two years and for helping make my comeback to the Formula One grid possible. I have enjoyed my time with ROKiT Williams Racing, both as Reserve & Development Driver and as a Race Driver this year, but I feel that the time is now right for me to move on to the next chapter in my career.”

Claire Williams, Deputy Team Principal of ROKiT Williams Racing added: “I would like to thank Robert for his hard work and respect his decision to leave the team at the end of the 2019 season. Robert has been an important member of the team in both his role as Reserve & Development Driver, and subsequently as one of our Race Drivers in 2019. We thank him for his continued efforts throughout what has been a challenging couple of seasons and wish him well in his future endeavours.”

The team will announce its 2020 driver line-up in due course.
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Right decision for Kubica. Incredible that he was even able to make a return, but he's clearly not up to the standard needed for F1. I hope he can find success in whatever he does next.

More incredible to me is that Grosjean is apparently keeping his seat for 2020. Are Haas bonkers?
 
Will Hulkenberg go for that seat? Or just give it a big fat nope? If offered i think he should probably take it with a view to seeing what happens with all the other seats in 2021 when the rules change.
 
I think going to Williams would be a bad idea for Hulk. He either loses to Russell, or doesn't beat him by enough of a margin to match his experience, or he beats Russell and spends a year trundling around at the back with no one noticing. Either way his career is over. Unless Williams build a solid 2020 car, but with their funding situation I massively doubt it.

He'd be better having a year off and trying to get a testing role developing a team's 2021 car, then use that experience of the new formula to land a 2021 seat.
 
CaptainRAVE said:
They should never have stopped.
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True, but no one could have foreseen the ****show that Honda were. Having said that they should never have dropped them when they did. They would come good eventually and they have. The Honda engine is now deemed to be the third best after Mercedes and Ferrari.
 
CaptainRAVE said:
The Mercedes engine is still ahead, but it isn’t like they can go back to Honda anyway and it was always a big gamble.
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Well, no. But, as we've seen, neither the failures of Honda nor the failures of Renault were entirely attributable to the engine manufacturers. Mercedes will make their engines to suit their car and that will give them an advantage over anyone else that has it.
 
If McLaren do switch to Mercedes power in 2021 they’ll be the best placed customer team to actually beat the works team. They have the funds, the talent and they are building the new wind tunnel in-house as well.

The work that Andreas Seidl has been quietly doing I think has been really great.

If the deal does go through it’ll hurt Renaults engine development....two less cars on the grid running Renault power, less development mileage, engine telemetry and chassis comparisons not to mention the money that it brings.

The deal maybe close or done between the teams but it’ll be interesting to see if it gets past the FIA.
 
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