Kubica stays grounded about Singapore
Renault’s Robert Kubica has vowed to remain realistic about his hopes for a podium finish this weekend at the Formula One Singapore Grand Prix. Though his team is anticipating a dramatic finish, the Pole
is wary of the ability of teams such as Red Bull, McLaren, and Williams, and is reluctant to let his confidence overrule his judgement just yet.
“I think we must be careful not to take anything for granted," stated Kubica cautiously. "It's true that Singapore is the closest circuit to Monaco in the calendar, but Monaco was over four months ago.”
The 25-year-old talent took a third place victory at the Monaco Grand Prix and in Belgium, and earned a second place finish in Australia. Similar to Singapore in the layout of the twists, turns, and straights,
Monaco is especially suited to the technical aspect of the Renault vehicle, and Kubica was able to manoeuvre the vehicle around the writhing city circuit with enough grace to keep the majority of Renault’s rivals at bay. Kubica is hopeful that his car will
deliver the same potential at Marina Bay City Circuit this weekend.
“I'd like the car to be as competitive and easy to drive as it was back then [in Monaco], because it makes it easy for me to push straight away and easier for the engineers to work on extracting the final
bit of performance,” Kubica said. “But things change quickly in Formula One and it may not be the case. My approach will be as usual-I will keep in mind that we are fighting in a very strong pack of cars, and lately teams like Williams have come very strong,
so we need to wait and see. But I'm definitely looking forward to a good performance.”
Kubica’s team-mate Vitaly Petrov of Russia will be experiencing his first Singapore race this weekend, and the rookie driver is thrilled to be hitting the asphalt of the famous circuit at night. “My objective
is to fight in the top 10 and to get into Q3. [The team’s] objective remains to try and beat Mercedes. It will be a challenge because everything will be new for me, but it will be a challenging weekend for everybody.”
Petrov has been improving consistently over the past few racing sessions, and will be looking to score enough favour with Renault to ensure that he stays for the 2011 season. That will depend heavily on
his performance over the next five races.
The Singapore Grand Prix will be held on September 26.
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