Sebastian Vettel has admitted he is not sure what to think about Robert Kubica's F1 comeback. It is believed the Pole is now on the cusp of securing his return to the sport with Williams, seven years after almost severing his arm in a rallying crash.
"I think it's very tragic what happened back then," German Vettel told Sonntagsblick newspaper. "He was regarded as a future champion. But I do not understand why he is pushing for a comeback now," he added.
"Why did he not do this before?" the Ferrari driver added. "For him it would be a nice story, but on the other hand it would be unfortunate for younger drivers who would also like that cockpit," Vettel said.
Nico Hülkenberg agrees that Kubica's return would be a "huge story" for F1. "In testing you can see that the pace is there," he told Sport1. "But you cannot simulate the racing action of the first lap in Monaco or Singapore," Hülkenberg said. "I hope he is able to race at the highest level, but we will only see that when he's in the car next year. I estimate the chances of his comeback at 50-50," the Renault driver added. (GMM)
Fanbois in here are butthurt over the obvious fact. Why now? The accident happened years ago and pretty rapidly he recovered enough to compete professionally, so why only now? not in the past when he started competing competitively? Because hype = sponsors = money. Vettel and Hulkenberg dodged the obvious, money. They are being politically correct by not mentioning it.
Why Paddy Lowe wasn't all frothing at mouth about Kubica's pace? If they wanted to entice clueless sponsors even more all Paddy had to do was talk big but he DIDN'T, that was pretty telling. The pace wasn't spectacular enough. You don't lose out on a good opportunity to milk a good PR story like that. He was coy for obvious reasons.
What does the timing matter? If he brings enough to the table, be it pace, experience, PR whatever, he gets the seat. Otherwise he won't. For Vettel to be butthurt here is ridiculous.
Kubica probably have his reasons, maybe he's suffered from depression, maybe he didn't think it was possible, who knows. To make this a matter of money is absurd, as the money would've been way better had he returned sooner.
I don't get the negativity from those guys... Why didn't they say something when Maldonado, Stroll, Ericsson, Gutierrez, and others were retained? Those were guys proved they were not great talents. At least Stroll has youth, but the others? They may be right about Kubica, but I think they should have kept their mouths shut before he actually shows what he can do or can't do.
I agree with Vettel but still maybe could give him a few races in a contract. And if he able perform can make a new one. Then nobody will be lose anything.
It’s strange they’re taking so long. As a previous poster said, the momentum would have been there to make a quick announcement following Abu Dhabi. I also agree there would (should) have been encouraging noises from Williams, but there’s been bugger-all. This is either so incredibly clever that it’s beyond me (not hard) or it’s a missed opportunity to enhance the team’s status. To all those who are saying f*** you to Vettel & Hulk, they are not only entitled to their opinion, they have to race alongside him, so yeah, there are concerns.
Even if his pace is only marginally faster than Stroll I think his input can help the team immensely and help Stroll even more. I just don't see Massa being a huge mentor.
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I suggest Vettel retires then. He's a 4-time champ, so it's very selfish of him to occupy that Ferrari cockpit - cause f*ck logic...