Robert Kubica will compete at the Baku City Circuit for the first time in his career this weekend, with the Pole hoping to feel the same kind of feeling he enjoyed racing on similar tracks back during his first spell in Formula 1.
The Williams Racing driver has endured a tough start to his second stint in Formula 1, with a best finish of sixteenth coming in the Bahrain Grand Prix, and he has often found himself outperformed by rookie team-mate George Russell both in Qualifying and on race day.
Nevertheless, Kubica is ready for the challenge of the Azerbaijan Grand Prix around a track he feels should be one of the more demanding circuits on the calendar, although scoring Williams’ first points of the year may well be out of the question barring any crazy scenarios.
“It’s time for the fourth race of the season in Baku,” said Kubica. “The circuit looks challenging from what I watched last year, and definitely one of the most demanding tracks.
“It will be my first time driving there. In the past, I really enjoyed driving around these types of circuits, so I look forward to getting the same feeling I did in the past.”
Kubica feels Williams is too far off the pace of the rest of the pack to be genuine points contenders in Baku, although history at the track has shown mixed up results due to crashes and safety car interventions.
“Baku showed that everything is possible, but I think we are too far off from the pack to think about it,” said Kubica to Motorsport.com. “Of course in the past editions, especially two years ago, a lot of things happened during the race and some cars finished in the front, but we will have to see.
“First of all, this is a new track for me so I’m not thinking too much about the race. I’m thinking about approaching the weekend in the right way and try to get a good feeling straight away on a street circuit.”
