Renault confirm Kubica

[Ian Poole]

Eurosport.co.uk

Poland's Robert Kubica will replace double Formula One world champion Fernando Alonso at Renault next season.

No details were given about the length of the contract, although Renault said it was from 2010 onwards.

Kubica has driven for the BMW-Sauber team since 2006 while Alonso, one of the 24-year-old's best friends in the paddock, is moving to Ferrari next year.

The Pole won last year's Canadian Grand Prix and had been approached by several teams, including Toyota and Williams, once BMW announced they were quitting the sport at the end of the season.

"I am very happy I will be joining Renault in the 2010 season," Kubica said.

"I feel I have a special connection with this team because in 2005 I won the World Series by Renault. This gave me the chance to test with the team in Barcelona, which led to my debut in Formula One.

"I share with Renault a strong winning mentality and feel comfortable with their friendly and open attitude," he added in a statement.

"I'm highly motivated and optimistic that together we can be at the front of the grid next year and, hopefully, fighting for the world title."

Former champions Renault are licking their wounds after a scandal-hit year, with the team handed a suspended permanent ban from the sport for their role in a race-fixing controversy.

Flamboyant former team boss Flavio Briatore has been banned for life and engineering head Pat Symonds barred for five years. Kubica, an extremely quick and aggressive driver, has a no-nonsense style that will fit in well with the team's restructuring.

The tall Pole has also come up the hard way, with no family wealth to support him and from a country with no previous involvement in Formula One.

Although he had an impressive first test with Renault, he was snapped up by BMW-Sauber from under their noses as a test driver. He then replaced Canada's 1997 world champion Jacques Villeneuve as a race driver half way through 2006.

"Ever since Robert made his Grand Prix debut in 2006, he has been on our radar as one of the most naturally talented drivers of his generation," said Renault's acting team principal Bob Bell.

"He has delivered on that promise so it's great to have secured him in one of our cars next season. Renault has high ambitions and hopes for the future of the team and we feel that Robert can play a big role in fulfilling them."

Renault did not mention the second driver, currently French rookie Romain Grosjean.

That settles that I think

 

[Peter]

So, Kubica to Renault, Alonso to Ferrari, Raikkonen possibly to McLaren, so where does Heikki go?

 

[Only_in_f1]

Back to Renault?

 

[orimarc]

Back to Renault?

But then...where does Heilfeld go?

 

[prisonermonkeys]

Retirement, I hope. I wouldn't be too devastated if Heidfeld fell off the grid; he's useless.

 

[Peter]

A bit harsh? Heidfield has more points than Kubica right now, and they have the same car don't they? Heidfield will be grabbed by one of the new teams for next year, too good to fall off.

 

[SagarisGTB]

Retirement, I hope. I wouldn't be too devastated if Heidfeld fell off the grid; he's useless.

Indeed, the driver who has outscored Kubica, Massa, Raikkonen, Webber and Villeneuve in their together as teammates is useless. The driver who holds the record for continuous race classifications is useless.

Get a clue.

 

[Omnis]

Race classifications mean nothing if you always finish outside of the points.

That said, Heidfeld is still good enough to score and good enough to be picked up.

 

[LR-PR-ProtoX]

Heidfield is a a very good driver but like any other driver, bad luck strikes him and of course BMW wasn't the BMW everybody was hoping for after 2008. Kubica at Renault, good move by them, he is a very good driver. I can see Heidfield going to retirement only because he wants, I know other team will want him big time. Williams is aiming for Barrichelo but then again it's only a rumor. There are a lot teams, the new teams could sign him but the question is, will he want that?? One driver that I know will be driving next year for sure is Brunno Senna. Can't forget about this guy, he will be the sleeper and trust me, he will be in a good team since he is backed by huge brazilian sponsors and one of them is Petrobras.

 

[SagarisGTB]

Race classifications mean nothing if you always finish outside of the points.

It is always better to finish than not to finish, is that not correct?

Heidfeld's record shows he doesnt bin it or make stupid mistakes like many drivers do, such as Heikki, Kimi, Massa, Hamilton, Piquet, Grosjean, Alguersuari, Sutil and I could keep on going. He is much more reliable for bringing the car home than almost any F1 driver. And clearly Heidfeld doesnt always finish outside the points. I rate Nick as one of the ten best F1 drivers or close to there and with a grid of up to 28 drivers next year, there is no question he deserves a seat. I rate him just as much as Webber or Button and some rate those two very highly.

 

[Omnis]

Yeah, I'm not saying Heidfeld is bad. I'm just saying that if you want to put-put around the track just to be able to bring it home, what good is that? I'd rather have Giles Villeneuve's balls on the pedal.

 

[prisonermonkeys]

Indeed, the driver who has outscored Kubica, Massa, Raikkonen, Webber and Villeneuve in their together as teammates is useless. The driver who holds the record for continuous race classifications is useless.

The driver who holds the record for the longest streak without a win is also useless. Heidfeld is second only to Andrea de Cesaris in that regard, but he's the only active driver in the top ten for this record: 165 starts, zero wins. He also has the dubious honour of being the driver who has the most points without a win. That, to me, is a driver who can't follow through. Out-scoring your team-mate is all well and good, but who wants a guy who can't win and is seemingly forever doomed to the Best of the Rest?

 

[Tired Tyres]

Is this the same Heldfeld who was totally outclassed by Kubica last season? The same Heldfeld that BMW spent so much time modifying last years car so it would suit him rather than spending it developing this years car? Good riddance to him.

 

[yeti]

You mean "Quick Nick"?!?!?

C.

 

[mipuumal]

The driver who holds the record for the longest streak without a win is also useless. Heidfeld is second only to Andrea de Cesaris in that regard, but he's the only active driver in the top ten for this record: 165 starts, zero wins. He also has the dubious honour of being the driver who has the most points without a win. That, to me, is a driver who can't follow through. Out-scoring your team-mate is all well and good, but who wants a guy who can't win and is seemingly forever doomed to the Best of the Rest?

Nick has spent the vast majority of his career in midfield/backmarker teams, it's unrealistic for him to have won a race in them.

His only chance came in the Canadian GP 2008, but BMW gave the win to Kubica instead by putting Heidfeld on an incredibly heavy fuel load for his 2nd stint and asking him to let Kubica through instead of holding him up when Kubica caught him.

 

[MagpieRacer]

I would like to see Heidfeld at Williams again, Heidfeld and Barrichello for Williams perhaps?

 

[prisonermonkeys]

I would like to see Heidfeld at Williams again, Heidfeld and Barrichello for Williams perhaps?

Williams are expected to take Hulkenberg after he won the GP2 series on debut. He's their answer to Lewis Hamilton, and if they don't get him for 2010, I expect someone else will make a play for the kid. I'm expecting Barrichello to join him, myself.

 

[red7]

Fascinating how the last 14 post have to do with Nick Heidfeld. This will be a great opportunity for Kubica. Looking forward to see how Renault compliment his raw talent.

 

[the_fatadder]

Definitely the right call for Kubica, though there seems to be a lot of negative stuff published about him (along the lines that he is a very awkward driver to have in the team, and is rather disruptive) I'd say that Renault is pretty ideally suited to dealing with someone like that.

I'd expect to see Grosjean kept to partner him.

As for Heidefelt, he will be at one of the new teams next yea! Certainly cant see any of the existing teams taking him on!

 

[tibiquera]

Indeed, the driver who has outscored Kubica, Massa, Raikkonen, Webber and Villeneuve in their together as teammates is useless. The driver who holds the record for continuous race classifications is useless.

Get a clue.

Well, Massa was pretty useless back then as he was just beginning, Raikkonen was in his first season in F1 after coming from a very low level championship, Villeneuve was beaten by pretty much any driver available in the field (including Kubica in his very first season). I don't know about Webber, and Kubica was consistantly faster last year when BMW was a competitive car.

What I want to say is, he's not a bad driver at all, but he's not a front runner either. Last year he had a very competitive car but didn't take full advantage of it. Reminds of Frentzen who was lightning fast at Sauber but was disappointing at Williams.

 

[Ardius]

The benefit of being a reliable finisher in Heidfeld's case is that he is worth a lot more to teams who are looking to develop their car and gather useful data...something which is a lot more important these days without testing.

Its not just his reliable finishes though, he isn't slow either and to compare him to Andrea de Cesaris is a little unfair. They couldn't be more different.
Give Heidfeld a fast car and he will reliably finish it on the podium if not a win. This is what Button did earlier this year, why is it any different for Nick?

In fact, I view Heidfeld and Button as almost exactly the same type of driver, both like specific character cars, both are reliable points scoreres and finishers, and before this year they both never really had the car to prove themselves.

Like I've said before, none of the drivers this year are truly bad, they are all very close in skill and its one of the few seasons where I could honestly call over 70% of field "the best in the world". Only the rookies and Nakajima are lacking, and not by very much.

 

[prisonermonkeys]

The benefit of being a reliable finisher in Heidfeld's case is that he is worth a lot more to teams who are looking to develop their car and gather useful data...something which is a lot more important these days without testing.

And not something Renault is seriously in need of.

Besides, I've heard that they're looking seriously at Adian Sutil for the second seat.

 

[Pescara for GT5]

The benefit of being a reliable finisher in Heidfeld's case is that he is worth a lot more to teams who are looking to develop their car and gather useful data...something which is a lot more important these days without testing.

Its not just his reliable finishes though, he isn't slow either and to compare him to Andrea de Cesaris is a little unfair. They couldn't be more different.
Give Heidfeld a fast car and he will reliably finish it on the podium if not a win. This is what Button did earlier this year, why is it any different for Nick?

In fact, I view Heidfeld and Button as almost exactly the same type of driver, both like specific character cars, both are reliable points scoreres and finishers, and before this year they both never really had the car to prove themselves.

Like I've said before, none of the drivers this year are truly bad, they are all very close in skill and its one of the few seasons where I could honestly call over 70% of field "the best in the world". Only the rookies and Nakajima are lacking, and not by very much.

Nice, I agree, except that Nakajima is either in terrible luck or 9th/10th place, he doesn't finish bad if he does at all.

 

[Prince.M5]

The benefit of being a reliable finisher in Heidfeld's case is that he is worth a lot more to teams who are looking to develop their car and gather useful data...something which is a lot more important these days without testing.

Its not just his reliable finishes though, he isn't slow either and to compare him to Andrea de Cesaris is a little unfair. They couldn't be more different.
Give Heidfeld a fast car and he will reliably finish it on the podium if not a win. This is what Button did earlier this year, why is it any different for Nick?

In fact, I view Heidfeld and Button as almost exactly the same type of driver, both like specific character cars, both are reliable points scoreres and finishers, and before this year they both never really had the car to prove themselves.

Like I've said before, none of the drivers this year are truly bad, they are all very close in skill and its one of the few seasons where I could honestly call over 70% of field "the best in the world". Only the rookies and Nakajima are lacking, and not by very much.

I agree with you, the thing is that I couldn't understand why some people thought that having a driver like Heidfeld is useless... What is it if you have a driver like Hamilton, Kimi etc. that can win a race but can't be consistent??? For me, I would rather have a driver like Nick and someone who's fast like Hamilton, Kubica etc... Nick is fast, as some of you already stated before, give him a fast car and he'll be flying... Give Hamilton or Vettel a slower car and they'll be slower... Easy...

Now for Nakajima, he's a good driver but he just need at least a year to familiarise himself with the car. But it has been 2 years already but let's try to put him in a Brawn or a Red Bull... He could be fast too...