Robert Kubica keeping his fingers crossed for the F-duct
Renault driver Robert Kubica hopes the F-duct benefits the car and adds pace to the car at the Belgian Grand Prix.
Renault being the last of the front running teams finally introduced their version of the F-duct that enables the driver to halt the rear wing to reduce the drag and increase the top speed of the car on straights. This will help the team especially at Spa-Francorchamps as the track features long straights and fast corners, rewarding cars running at top speeds with stability. Kubica hopes the new F-duct will help the team find the best possible connection between the downforce and drag of Renault.
The Polish added that they will be running their F-duct this weekend for the first time and hope that it works the way they want it without any further complications. If they can execute their plan perfectly, they will have more practice time that will enable them to squeeze the F-duct to its maximum performance.
“We have seen a tendency for cars running the F-duct to use higher downforce levels than normal, because they can stall the rear wing and still generate good top speed. I think that will change the approach to Spa, too, because teams will be able to run quite a lot of downforce and still achieve good top speed. Although this is a circuit we all like driving on, it's still a track where car performance is very important”, he added. Kubica believes the team can still close in the gap before the end of the season.
“It will be a tough end to the season, because we have just two more races in Europe followed by some long trips to Asia, South America and the Middle East. I have been out of luck in the last three races, with no points in Silverstone or Budapest, so I would like to get back to how we were racing earlier in the year: scoring regular points and fighting for good positions. I think the target for myself and the whole team will be to close the gap to the top teams during these races”, he said.
Robert Kubica has had a very decent career since he joined Formula 1 in 2006 with BMW Sauber. The Polish impressed the viewers with a podium in his very first season and finished with 6 points to secure the 16th place that season in just 6 races. Robert raced to his first full season in the following year with BMW and scored an impressive 6th place with 39 points. Kubica gave his best performance to date when he scored his first win in 2008 with 7 podiums and a pole position to score 75 points to finish 4th in the drivers’ standings. The 25-year-old continued with the team for another year but had a disappointing finish with just 17 points in the drivers’ standings. Robert joined Renault for the 2010 season and is looking in good shape as he scored 2 podiums up until now to score 89 points which currently puts him at the 8th place in the drivers’ standings.
Robert’s teammate Vitaly Petrov is hoping to create momentum and to end in the drivers’ standings at a good spot after his strongest finish came at the Hungarian Grand Prix. The driver believes that anything is possible and if everything is working perfectly for him - from the car to the team - he can manage good results in the future. The Russian is concerned about the F-duct test at practice to see how the car will behave with it in high-speed corners. The team is aware that their car is already quite stable in fast corners. However; they need to make the F-duct work to match the Red Bull’s and Ferrari’s. It is quite difficult to predict what will become of the team. However, they are expected to be primed and ready to give it their best shot next week.
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