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Kubica: Williams built car five times faster than normal

Published on 21 Feb 2019 16:10
10
By: Richard Fletcher

Robert Kubica says that the Williams team built the FW42 five times faster than normal as it rushed to get it ready for on-track action in Barcelona.

Williams took to the track for the first time this week on Wednesday afternoon, missing out on the first two days of running. George Russell debuted the car, while Kubica had to wait until Thursday morning to lap the circuit in his 2019 challenger.

Kubica set 48 laps throughout the four hours of running, with his fastest ending up reading a 1:21.542. Speaking about his outing, the Pole says that he only had 12 laps to get a feel of the car.

"The first time [in the car], it was a bit late but it's better now than never," he said, "Today was a mixed day between checking up on systems and trying to get a bit of data for a new car. It doesn’t feel like day four of testing, it felt like day one. I got the opportunity for 12 laps to get the feel of the car which is of course limiting. It was not an easy morning but it is worth it.

"It was tough and not tough. It was not ideal but that's the situation and finally, we have got the car. In the end, the guys and the team did a good job to build it up in probably five times shorter time than it should have been.

"Of course then there is the reason why you are preparing, you are building up the car maybe in five days and not in one day and not that everybody is testing from day just for fun. There is a reason why people are testing. In situations like this we have to concentrate on what we have and will be the future and not what's in the past."

With the Australian Grand Prix kicking off in just under three weeks in Australia, Kubica is hoping that the testing delay doesn't have a knock-on effect for the start of the season.

"Hopefully we will not be penalised at the first races with the delays but everybody has to get on with their job in the team so I have to concentrate on my one. Finally, I got the car. Today I couldn’t really concentrate on driving and exploring the car. I had to do more of gathering data, signing off stuff and trying to get good mileage into the car. It was not really a smooth morning but it was as usual what you could expect on day one with a new car."

F1 News Robert Kubica George Russell Williams

Replies (10)

calle.itw

Posts: 8,527
Im not sure how good that is though. This isn't a success of the people on the ground, its a failure from the people on top. The corrupt must be purged, the miasma must be cleared, the filth must be cleaned*heavy breathing under plague doctor mask*.
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- Feb 21 2019 - 20:18
- ajpennypacker
  
  Posts: 2,475
  I don't understand how after last year's catastrophic showing, after stopping development early in the year (very early in fact), these people still didn't manage to show up in time to Barcelona. Waste two days of testing. Then produce a car that is already at least .500 behind the rest. How the hell nobody has been properly fired? I am looking at you Claire. This is a failure of engineering as much as it is a failure of leadership. I feel bad for Robert, his only chance to shine and make a comeback will be in this sinking ship
  + 0
  
  Feb 21 2019 - 21:18
- Norbert
  
  Posts: 108
  Agree that this preposterous delay hasn’t been explained but there are more press conferences to come and hopefully we will hear details from Mr. Lowe. Meanwhile, I’m not setting my nightie on fire - yet. But that was close.
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  Feb 21 2019 - 23:37
- boudy
  
  Posts: 1,168
  I am just glad that they are testing. From the sounds of it there were some real problems. Running an team like williams must be one of the hardest things todo and it seem like there is an need for some changes. It's very easy to sit here and comment but we don't know why this situation occurred.
  
  I hope they find some speed in their new car.
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  Feb 22 2019 - 00:39
- Ram Samartha
  
  Posts: 1,172
  I second that emotion AJPP. No excuse for less than mediocrity.
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  Feb 22 2019 - 03:52
- Kean
  
  Posts: 692
  The rumors I heard was that they had to do "last minute changes" and those changes, i.e. construction of new parts, is what caused the delay. There are also rumors that the car was even slower than last years car. And in it's current state the car is 2 sec of the pace compared to the mid-field. Now, the way I interpret that is that they discovered that the direction they were going in was completely wrong, and would lead to a care slower than last years. So they changed the direction, causing the delay.
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  Feb 23 2019 - 11:44
Pistonhead

Posts: 556
Poor, really poor. A once dominant team now only just scraped into a practice session. Ive said it before, this is now Lowe's problem, its clearly an engineering issue and it's a shitty start to the year for the team. Onwards and upwards now (please) !
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- Feb 22 2019 - 00:41
- Ram Samartha
  
  Posts: 1,172
  Don't know if Lowe has any say to fire Claire. It rests upon him but ultimately, her.
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  Feb 22 2019 - 03:54
Ram Samartha

Posts: 1,172
Sorry, but I'm not buying the 5 times faster than normal excuse. Had to read it twice to make sure that was what he said and will check elsewhere, cuz you never know if your favorite reporter really gets the quote right. Best to not say anything than say something like that.
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- Feb 22 2019 - 03:50
- Richfletcher
  
  Posts: 2
  Kubica makes occasional mistakes with his English but he repeated the “5 times quicker” comment twice. I still apply some scepticism and assume he meant a lot quicker than normal.
  + 0
  
  Feb 22 2019 - 11:14