Robert Kubica had no issues during his test with the Renault Sport Formula 1 Team at the Hungaroring with the 2017 RS17 Hybrid, with the Pole impressing engineer Ricardo Penteado.
In his first experience with modern day Formula 1 machinery, Kubica completed 142 laps of the Hungaroring and finished fourth fastest, and Penteado admitted the Pole did a great job without any complaining, and despite limited movement in his right arm, a remnant of his horror crash whilst rallying in 2011, was able to do everything he was asked to do, albeit with a slightly modified steering wheel layout.
“You can forget that question — he has no problem to drive the hybrid cars,” said Penteado to Brazilian publication Globo, feeling that Kubica had the ability to be even faster than what he eventually showed. “The most important thing is that Kubica did not have fuel for just one lap.
“The other thing that stands out is the number of laps he did — the equivalent of two races. It was 40 degrees and Robert did not get out of the car complaining of exhaustion.
“He had no difficulty. We asked for a lot of changes from him via the steering wheel, and he did everything within the normal time.”
