Robert Kubica’s test drive could be another step toward F1

While others do routine Formula One testing this week, it will mean so much more for Polish driver Robert Kubica.

Kubica, who last raced in F1 seven years ago, will drive the Renault F1 car on Tuesday in the first of two days of testing at the Hungaroring circuit in Hungary. If he does well, it will be another step toward F1 for Kubica - six years after sustaining serious right arm injuries.

“It’s nice to give him the opportunity to get back, get some mileage, see how he can handle it,” Renault technical director Nick Chester said. “It’s a good opportunity to see what he can do and whether he can come back to Formula One someday.”

The 32-year-old Kubica is being touted as a possible replacement for struggling British driver Jolyon Palmer next season, to drive alongside German driver Nico Hulkenberg in a quick-looking lineup for 2018. While the consistent Hulkenberg has scored 26 points with a best finish of sixth, Palmer has yet to score a point.

Kubica has been showing encouraging signs that his remarkable F1 return could happen. Renault’s managing director, Cyril Abiteboul, is eager to see what he can do in a 2017 car, having tested out a lighter 2012 F1 model in recent weeks.

Driving in the 2017 F1 car, with increased downforce and wider tires, would be more demanding on Kubica’s arm and test his fitness.

Still, Renault believes he can cope, albeit with a slightly adapted steering wheel.

“From what we’ve seen so far his mental fortitude is great, he’s pushed very hard to come back,” Chester said. “Physically, he’s passed all of his fitness tests and we’ve had to do very little to the car, so he’s actually managed pretty well in a modern F1 car.”

Kubica, a popular driver in F1 from 2006-10, opted to try his luck at rally driving in 2011.

In February of that year, a high-speed crash at the Ronde di Andora rally left him requiring extensive surgery on his right arm. His right hand was partially severed, and he sustained further arm and leg fractures. He was trapped in the car for more than one hour and needed seven hours of treatment after being airlifted to the hospital.

Kubica earned 12 F1 podium finishes with his quick, flashy driving and was seen as one of the brightest talents in the sport. He won the Canadian GP driving for BMW Sauber in 2008, after a second-place finish at the Monaco GP in the previous race. Sebastian Vettel’s luck changed for the better at the Hungarian Grand Prix on Sunday, where the German driver won to extend his championship lead over archrival Lewis Hamilton by 14 points heading into the summer break.

Vettel’s fourth win of the season came from pole position, on a Hungaroring track where overtaking is notoriously difficult. Yet his 46th career win turned out to be anything but a processional affair.

Even before the start, Vettel felt something was wrong with his steering wheel. It bugged him most of the race, but with his teammate Kimi Raikkonen driving brilliantly behind him to fend off the fast-closing Mercedes, Vettel held on and Ferrari got a 1-2 with Raikkonen second.

It was some change from two weeks ago at the British GP, where Vettel’s tire punctured two laps from the end, denying him a certain podium place. At Silverstone, he just about crawled home to finish seventh, with his lead over Hamilton slashed from 20 points to a meager one.

But Vettel now jets off into his month-long break with his spirits high again in his hunt for a fifth F1 title, and first since the last of his four straight titles driving for Red Bull in 2013.

“I’m over the moon. It was a really difficult race, maybe it didn’t look like but I had my hands full,” the German driver said. “The steering started to go sideways and it seemed to get worse. Then I stayed off the kerbs, tried to save the car. I didn’t do a favour to Kimi.”

Raikkonen, never known as a