Williams should persuade Robert Kubica to join the team as he is a better driver now than ever before, according to former F1 boss Bernie Ecclestone.
Kubica finished a ” successful” test for Williams at Silverstone and has another one scheduled at Hungaroring circuit. He is on the shortlist along with Paul di Resta, Pascal Wehrlein and Felipe Massa.
Ecclestone has been watching Kubica’s testing closely for several months and believes he is the right driver to take Williams ahead.
“If Robert had not had had his accident, then I think by now he would have been world champion anyway,” Ecclestone said.
“I think he can come back even stronger than before. Mentally, I think probably he will be more aggressive than he was then: so I can only see good, good things for him.
“In terms of his physical conditions, years and years ago, when I had a race team, we had a guy called Archie Scott-Brown who drove for us.
“Archie was bloody quick, and he was in a worse position than Robert, much worse, and he managed to be very successful and bloody quick. So I don’t think his injury will hold him back.”
Kubica’s testing has garnered a lot of interest in the F1 circle. His test run for Renault earlier this year was one of the biggest social media stories of the season and Ecclestone believes it can even attract a lot of big marketing and sponsorship to the team.
“If he does what I think he is going to do – be even better than before – then people will get behind him,” said Ecclestone. “He will be good to have for Formula 1.
“If I were Williams, I would definitely try to persuade him to join. Maybe they are going to lose Felipe Massa at the end of the year, I should think he has probably had enough, and if Robert is on board, then he might wake up a lot of people there.
“The team hasn’t been performing as well as it should have done, and whether it is because of drivers or the team in general, I don’t know. Nobody knows. So it would be nice to get a guy who should be quick in the car to find out.”
The fact that current world champion Nico Rosberg has come forward to manage Kubica itself is a big endorsement of Kubica’s potential says Ecclestone
“Nico believes like I do very, very much in him. We are going down the same route. He just needs, like all of us in life, a little bit of luck in making sure – and hoping – that Williams wake up.”
Williams F1 management, Are You Listening?
