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Q & A with Robert Kubica

Q. Has the shock of the announcement of BMW's departure lessened over the past two weeks?

Robert Kubica: It was quite a shock decision, an unexpected one - at the Hungarian Grand Prix we knew nothing. You could feel maybe something because I had a few talks at the Hungaroring about the future and I saw some strange situations. But I was never expecting such a big decision and I think everybody is still a bit worried about their future.

Of course some people a bit more and some people a bit less because it depends on their position and possibilities for next year. But especially the team at the Hinwil base is not in a good situation so I hope they will find a good way out of it, and that they will continue because we have a lot of good people and they deserve a much better situation than we are in now.

I think it's a little bit strange because we still have seven races to go and I can assume that motivation might be difficult to get, or some people might get even more motivation. But it's a bit strange because normally you would try to keep your team as smooth as possible without any problems during the year and now we have this big topic which is not ideal.

Q. How were you informed of the decision?

RK: I read it on the Internet for the first time. Then a short time after it was published on the Internet I received an email of the decision. I woke up in the morning, did some running, then I opened the Internet and saw it.

Normally all information has some leakage to the media before it really happens, so I read it before the conference and in a short time I received an email. It's hard to accept it but I put myself in the position of somebody in the team, like the guys from Switzerland, it's much harder for them than for me, Nick or the key people from the team.

But unfortunately that's the reality, sometimes life is good, sometimes life is difficult - it depends what approach you have. Life will go on whatever you do, the decision will not change.

Q. Do you think they might have looked at things differently if you had been winning races and getting podiums this year?

RK: I think it would be a completely different situation. All in all, I don't know exactly the reasons. For sure there are some reasons to take such a big decision, but I don't know. I assume that if we were first or second in the championship, fighting for winning, that we would not have this kind of problems now. Maybe in the end BMW would still decide to go away from Formula 1 but they would not say it in the middle of the year, which I think is very, very strange.

The way the timing happened, it was very difficult for Peter Sauber, who wants to find a solution for the Hinwil-based team. It was very difficult, it's not so easy to run the team but it's also not so easy to buy the team. Maybe you find money to run it but you have to make sure the team will run smoothly for the future as well, but this is not easy.

The situation is not very nice, wherever I can I will try to help them. But my limits are very low in the case, all I can do is try to get good results. I will do my best but all in all our season was very difficult and this decision doesn't make things easier.

Q. It puts you on the driver market for next season. How quickly do you want to get that sorted out?

RK: It's quite a different situation for myself. I was linked with BMW for very long, since 2006. We had a contract for next year as well, so this situation is new for us - the people working for me, and myself. We will have more meetings to find the best solution for me for next year.

I think there are a few opportunities, but everyone was on holiday so we will start working [on it now]. I am pretty confident that I will find the right place to be next year. Of course it's difficult to know which car will be the best and where to go, but hopefully I will be in a competitive car next season.

Q. With this decision, how much does it hurt you that the team let last year slip away?

RK: If you see what I said last year, unfortunately the worst scenario happened. Last year I was a bit upset because I felt like we didn't do the maximum to take our opportunity to fight for the championship because I said it might never happen again. Now, what we know one year later, it's that BMW with me in the car, at least in the near future, never has a chance to be leading or fighting for the championship. But that's how it is, that's racing and the way the sport works. The situation overall is very disappointing, and this decision doesn't help.

Q. Do you have a particular team in mind that you would like to drive for next year?

RK: I am quite open minded. I might have my opinions but still you're never sure, looking also to the decision of BMW. Leaving Hungary everything was fine, then days later was this kind of decision. It's very difficult to know what might happen in the future, that's why I'm quite open.

Q. In terms of showcasing your talent, last year was very good. This year it hasn't been so good, does that concern you?

RK: I think this year is much more difficult for us to show. Also my way of driving and how I can perform, because the car is very difficult to drive in the style I like to drive it. I think all teams want two quick drivers in quick cars, and I think I have shown last year that once the car is quick I am able to give a bit more extra which might have a big influence for the final results.

Q. What are your chances in Valencia?

RK: We have a few new things on the car, which were planned before the decision of BMW, so we're expecting two or three tenths improvement but not enough to jump to the front of the grid. I would expect the usual performance of lately.

Q. Are you disappointed that Michael Schumacher won't be racing?

RK: To be honest, I was probably not in a position to race with him because I believe if Michael was here he would do a very good job, so most probably I would not be racing with him. Of course it was the big talk in the summer break, but unfortunately he's not here so that's how it is.

Q. What were you doing in the summer break?

RK: A bit of everything, a bit of karting, bowling, running, biking, a bit of chilling out, taking some photos. I spent some time in Italy as well.

Q. Did you follow Kimi Raikkonen in the rally and would you like to do a similar thing?

RK: I followed it and I was very impressed, as everybody was, about his performance. He was doing a really amazing job until he crashed - but that's how it is with rallying, it might happen. He was really competitive for the little experience he has, and the first time in one of the most difficult rallies on the calendar.

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