TBK-Light.com

Polish media report Orlen will pay 25 milion Euros for a two-year deal.

_________________
07.04.1968 - Flower of Scotland when will we see your like again?
01.05.1994 - We'll never forget...

And I'm sure people in Poland will complain why they spend money on something like this

itshappening.gif

-

really happy to see Kubica come back after what he has went through.

I must say, I don't get it. He's at an age where you think about the highlights of your sportcareer, and are close to retirement. He's making a comeback in what is currently the worst team, with years of not doing anything competitively. He has nothing to win, only a reputation to lose. He will be last on the grid because of the car and by the time F1 comes to Europe, the media will not question if Williams is a bad car but if Kubica has lost it.

I think his recent interviews provide a partial answer - he misses being a proper F1 driver. This is almost certainly why he turned down the sim job from Ferrari.

He's in a similar position to Kimi now, in that everybody knows the car is crap and all he really needs to do is beat his rookie team mate. If Williams find some speed down the back of the sofa over the winter, he benefits. If Russell actually shows speed next to him, he can take credit for helping to develop the team.

I'd rather see a semi retired Kubica than one of those young bitches arriving with big money and no talent

_________________
Motorsports trend for 2024: everything is a bad taste joke now

Kubica has nothing to lose at the moment but if he manages to look good he actually gains a lot.

Give up without a fight?

That's the spirit!

I don't know man, neither Naninni nor Zanardi gave up without a fight. Just not in a full season seat of a major openwheel series. I'm intrigued, but I share the skepticism. If this ends up being a happy story, I'll take it.

Poor Williams. They wanted to have a big reveal tomorrow, but everyone has nicked their thunder, including Liberty.

https://streamable.com/u63up

_________________
Dan Wheldon ¦ 1978-2011
Marco Simoncelli ¦ 1987-2011
Jules Bianchi ¦ 1989-2015
Justin Wilson ¦ 1978-2015

Yeah, I know he's mad and I don't care. I do not care. I did not care then. I do not care now. I'm here to race him.

This just proves Williams need money.

Ocon > Kubica all day long, IMO.

_________________
"Many people ask me why I always sign off Till We Meet Again, because goodbye is always so final. Goodbye Dan Wheldon." -Marty Reid

There’s nothing new there. Williams have been the same for well over a decade, making these type of commercial decisions:

Kubica >> Orlen
Stroll
Massa >> Petrobras
Maldonado >> PDVSA
Nakajima >> Toyota

Since BMW left the team, in only two seasons has the team not featured a driver bringing or heavily influencing a commercial partnership.

_________________
BTCC Pick Em's Champion 2010
Formula Fun Cup Champion 2013
http://www.the-fastlane.co.uk

I'm happy for Robert that he's going to get his F1 comeback & I really do hope that his story has a somewhat happy ending in terms of him been competitive.... But I really do feel like people need to check there expectations a bit because I think too many of the fans & those inside F1 that have been screaming for his return the loudest have done so based on not just the fact it's a feel good story but also because there looking at where he was in 2010 rather than where he is now.

I just think people are hyping this up too much (Like they did with Schumacher in 2010). It's a good news story & that may end up been all it is & I think people need to be prepared for that rather than hyping it up like were still in 2010as i've seen been done elsewhere.

Are those two you speak of Webber and Rosberg?

Yes, 2006. The other year was 2010 with Barrichello and Hulkenberg.

_________________
BTCC Pick Em's Champion 2010
Formula Fun Cup Champion 2013
http://www.the-fastlane.co.uk

Who's hyping this up as a winning combination? Everything I've seen written and everyone I've talked to just thinks it's a win for a good guy, similar to the way I felt when Hartley got the TR ride last year. Anyone expecting it to shake up the sport is in denial about what F1 has become. It will continue to be dominated by the same 2 or 3 drivers and just having someone down the order to root for the occasional points finish is a welcome break from the boredom.

_________________

Strong reactions here.

The only "succesfull" comeback of the last 20 years was Kimi. But he was only away for 2 years, kept competitive in other series, and raced in top teams. Even then, he only got 3 victories in 7 seasons. Strong contrast with the 18 in his first stint.
Schumacher was a flop, Zanardi was an embarassement, Villeneuve was equally bad. All four drivers were champions in their first stint, and got beaten big time by their team mates in their second.

Now we have Kubica. He's 34, that is old for an athlete. Good enough to continue for one or two years, too old to start again. He is going to what is the worst team this year, probably the worst again next year. There will be questions about his arm and his strength. Apart from some rally, he has not been competitive since his accident which was 8 years ago. If he'd gone to Force India Papa Stroll, he could have had a chance at some decent results. Not gonna happen in the Williams.

In Australia he'll be the talk of the season. Everyone loves a good comeback story, right? Then the results are bad. Is it the car? Is it the arm? Has he lost it? Would Ocon have done better? You can be damn sure that these questions will be asked by a lot of you in about 6-7 months from now.

I understand your sentiment. time will tell if he made the right choice.
There is some hope that Williams abandoned 2018 relatively soon and focused on 2019. They might jump forward again then. I also wonder how far behind they would be this season with 2 drivers instead of Stroll and Sirotkin.

I also think Kubica is about the only realistic choice for Williams. They need money and someone with some experience.
Drivers like Werhlein and Ocon dont have money. Any other choice has no talent.

Say what you will, but the fact is that Kubica is now a pay driver and has no current experience. It is great that he is back don't get me wrong, but you are taking a driver that is not 100% and who has been out of the sport for over 8 years. This is a marketing grab by Williams to raise cash, both from Kubica and from the feel good story angle.

If anyone should be in that seat it is Ocon. Under Claire's direction the team has just gone down hill, and quite fast, squandering whatever opportunities they have had to re establish themselves. They can't even go for the McLaren angle of a crappy engine blindsighting them.

This appointing of Kubica now that he seems to have the cash that Sirotkin doesn't just highlights how desperate they are. I sure hope i'm proven wrong and Kubica smokes it next year, but why aren't people calling for Claire to get the boot like they were for Kettleborn? I'd argue that Claire is even worse seeing as Williams were in a much better position than Sauber.

If Mercedes believed in Ocon, he would be in that car. They would have offered a discount or even free engines to keep him in F1.
Ocon will walk the path of Wehrlein.