Kubica shines and attracts envy

Robert Kubica’s performance in Monaco once again highlighted why he is one of the attractions of F1 and why he continues to attract the interest of the top teams, such as Ferrari, for example.

By putting his Renault on the front row and securing a podium finish, Kubica managed to completely transcend the level of his car.

He did it in most of the races this year, but the nature of the Monaco track reflects his battle against the clock even better.

On more traditional circuits, where aerodynamics are more important, Kubica can gain 0.10s compared to the car’s intrinsic level, but in Monaco, where the driver’s skill is highlighted by their ability to drive close to obstacles and commit at high speed, Kubica has shown he can gain much more than that. It should be noted that Renault’s natural position on the grid is to fight for a spot in the top 10 in qualifications, and in Monaco, the difference between the front row and the 10th place was about 0.8s. This better illustrates the work accomplished by the Polish driver. This is acknowledged by Alan Permane, the team’s chief engineer:

« We know that the car is far from being a car built for the front line. We owe this performance to Robert. »

Red Bull, Ferrari, and Mercedes are all inherently faster than the Renaults. In Monaco, even taking into account McLaren’s problems with tire temperature, Kubica shouldn’t have done better than 7th. He was precise, using the car’s stability and his ability to exploit the outer front tire’s grip at the entrance of each corner. Maintaining this dynamic while barely brushing the barriers by millimeters on exit was the key to Robert Kubica’s performance, especially since he managed to drive like this throughout the race, where other drivers couldn’t show consistency in every lap.

Renault’s consistency allowed it to get into a superb rhythm, and the lack of support wasn’t as significant as its good balance.

The team was thrilled with the result, but we wonder if a victory would have been possible.

In the final part of the qualifying, Kubica and the team decided to do both runs on new tires, while others – including poleman Mark Webber – opted to do just one run of several laps, with the idea that the ultra-soft tire needed three to four laps maximum to deliver its full potential.

Thus, Webber was able to surpass Kubica’s time during his third and fourth laps. Did the Renault driver and his engineers make a poor choice? Given the importance of the starting position at the Monaco GP, did this decision cost him the victory? It’s possible since his teammate, Vitaly Petrov, set his best time in Q2 at the end of a multi-lap run.

Kubica is aware that Q3 was not perfect:

On my last lap, I was able to achieve the fastest split time in the first sector, but by the end of that lap, my tires had lost grip in the final sector.

However, after this demonstration, Ferrari’s interest in Kubica is strengthened. He has already been approached by the Scuderia to fill in for Felipe Massa following his serious accident, and now he is considered a possible replacement for the Brazilian for the next season.

On its side, Renault is strengthening its team around the Polish driver and improving by leaps and bounds.

Kubica is the spearhead of a new state of mind at Renault. Eric Boullier is the instigator of a new era, but will he still be able to count on his Polish missile to restore the diamond emblem’s reputation? A decision should be made before July.