MiamiPhill

Formula1.com Exclusive: Kubica hopeful of return to form in Valencia

From the first half of the season, BMW Sauber?s Robert Kubica would be hard pressed to single out one highlight. From his first-ever pole position in Bahrain to his stunning maiden victory at the Canadian Grand Prix, Kubica?s 2008 season has been chock full with triumphs. Since June, however, results have been on the wane and instead of podiums, the Polish driver has been fighting hard for championship points. But with the possibility of a more level playing field in Valencia, the 23 year-old is staying optimistic?

Q: Robert, after the team?s recent spell of success, the Budapest race must have been disappointing. BMW Motorsport director Mario Theissen said that in some phases of the Hungarian Grand Prix the team's cars were the slowest on track. Can you sum up what happened from a driver's perspective?
Robert Kubica: A few laps after the start the car became very difficult to drive and my feeling was that the pressure of the tyres was too high. In those circumstances, you simply have to slow down since the grip and the traction become very poor.

Q: How did it feel to have your normally reliable car let you down?
RK: Reliability is our biggest strength but it should not become the only strength. For a driver reliability is only a problem when you don?t have it, otherwise you don?t think about it. Instead, when you are racing with lack of pace, you notice it and the feeling is not good.

Q: Theissen also said that the reason might be hidden somewhere in the equation between car, set-up, tyres, track and track conditions. Where do you believe the issue lies?
RK: Well, my fourth position on the starting grid shows that the car was not so bad for that track and track conditions were similar on Saturday and Sunday. As I said, I would point my finger in the direction of the tyre issue. There were also some technical problems that may have influenced performance, although in a limited way.

Q: After such a race the team could not twiddle their thumbs and escape on a summer break. What feedback did you get regarding the cause of the downturn in pace?
RK: We did not discover in Hungary that our car had lost competitiveness in respect of most of the other teams. I hope that Hungary is the turning point of the season since this situation puts me in the position to fight for points rather than for podiums. Let?s see if we can be back to where we are supposed to be in Valencia.

Q: It seemed to come so suddenly. There was no hint in qualifying that finishing eighth would be the maximum you could achieve. When did you realize that things were going wrong?
RK: After the first pit stop, when I realized that the massive lack of grip was still there.

Q: Budapest saw McLaren overtake BMW Sauber in the constructors? championship standings. With Ferrari leading, McLaren in second and BMW Sauber in third, do we now have a more realistic pecking order?
RK: Yes, in the last two races we scored only eight points, clearly not enough. This trend brings us back to the 2007 season conditions, which clearly is not the team?s goal.

Q: The championship moves now to the unknown Valencia circuit. Every team and driver has a different way to deal with such a situation. How have you prepared?
RK: I watched some footage of the Formula Three race, but mainly my preparation will be in Valencia during the first free practice.

Q: What will you do once you arrive on Thursday?
RK: I?ll walk one lap with my race engineer on Thursday and on Friday will do more laps than usual - I think everybody else will too.

Q: How did Robert Kubica spend his summer break?
RK: A lot of bowling and some karting.

MiamiPhill

Lap of valencia in a F3 car, no sound but clarity ok. Sound but not as clear & odd camera angle. GT race car onboard.

MiamiPhill

Fri. Practice Session 1

1) 15 Sebastian Vettel STR-Ferrari 1:40.496 29
2) 2 Felipe Massa Ferrari 1:40.654 0.158 27
3) 22 Lewis Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes 1:40.822 0.326 21
4) 14 Sebastien Bourdais STR-Ferrari 1:41.099 0.603 31
5) 23 Heikki Kovalainen McLaren-Mercedes 1:41.163 0.667 23
6) 4 Robert Kubica BMW Sauber 1:41.281 0.785 24
7) 1 Kimi R?ikk?nen Ferrari 1:41.317 0.821 27
8) 8 Kazuki Nakajima Williams-Toyota 1:41.329 0.833 26
9) 5 Fernando Alonso Renault 1:41.385 0.889 31
10) 7 Nico Rosberg Williams-


Session 2

1) 1 Kimi R?ikk?nen Ferrari 1:39.477 30
2) 5 Fernando Alonso Renault 1:39.497 0.020 39
3) 16 Jenson Button Honda 1:39.546 0.069 35
4) 2 Felipe Massa Ferrari 1:39.678 0.201 31
5) 22 Lewis Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes 1:39.712 0.235 31
6) 23 Heikki Kovalainen McLaren-Mercedes 1:39.954 0.477 30
7) 12 Timo Glock Toyota 1:39.967 0.490 32
8) 4 Robert Kubica BMW Sauber 1:40.149 0.672 35
9) 6 Nelsinho Piquet Renault 1:40.439 0.962 32
10) 21 Giancarlo Fisichella Force India-Ferrari 1:40.500 1.023 23

formuleuno

Interesting where this track is situated in Valencia in the middle of a busy port area. The cars drive over a drawbridge on this track and there are some 25 turns!!!! The teams were running simulation laps claiming that the cars can run 1:35 and it seems there about 4 seconds off (that will change Saturday). It defnitely looks a little different than your typical street course...at least its not Monaco

Suchet

I am in Velencia Guys... the sound of the cars are unreal

MiamiPhill

Final positions in Valencia:

1. Massa (Ferrari)

2. Hamilton (McLaren)

3. Kubica (BMW Sauber)

4. Raikkonen (Ferrari)

5. Kovalainen (McLaren)

6. Vettel (Toro Rosso)

7. Trulli (Toyota)

formuleuno

Let's hope Robert can get by Lewis after the first corner. I think passing won't be as difficult as Monaco, but it still won't be easy!!

MiamiPhill

Hummm, rather dull so far 16 laps in.

MiamiPhill

Positions after 57 laps of 57 lap: Race very dull 0 passing. :thumbsdown:



1. Massa (Ferrari)

2. Hamilton (McLaren)

3. Kubica (BMW Sauber)

4. Kovalainen (McLaren)

5. Trulli (Toyota)

6. Vettel (Toro Rosso)

7. Glock (Toyota)

8. Rosberg (Williams)

Richard in NC

Which now makes it:
1Ferrari121
2McLaren-Mercedes113
3BMW Sauber96
and
1Lewis HamiltonBritishMcLaren-Mercedes70
2Felipe MassaBrazilianFerrari64
3Kimi R?ikk?nenFinnishFerrari57
4Robert KubicaPolishBMW Sauber55
5Heikki KovalainenFinnishMcLaren-Mercedes43
6Nick HeidfeldGermanBMW Sauber41
with 6 races to go.