Robert Kubica deserves another shot at F1 - Pirelli's Mario Isola

Kubica participated in Pirelli's post Abu Dhabi Grand Prix tyre test in November, as Williams evaluated whether to offer Kubica the chance to return to racing in F1 for the first time since he suffered life-changing injuries in a 2011 rally accident.

Williams is now expected to give that drive to former Renault reserve Sergey Sirotkin, who impressed during his own running for Williams in Abu Dhabi and carries substantial backing from Russian bank SMP.

But Isola reckons Kubica needs time to further adapt to a formula that has changed drastically since he last contested a grand prix, and said the Pole should be given another chance to see how far he can take his comeback.

"The point is that he was not driving [for a] long time and needed some time to adapt," Isola told Autosport.

"I believe he did a good job, honestly. Then, the decision to take one driver or another is a different story.

"I'm not criticising the decision. I'm just saying, for me, he deserves the opportunity, the possibility to show us his potential again.

"He had to learn the car. Also, it was two sessions of half a day each, so to learn all the package is not so easy.

"Consider also we are talking about a 2017 car that is a lot different from the '11 car; also the '16, so it was a different car with a much better performance.

"He's not a young driver but clearly he needs some time to adapt to the new situation.

"For me, considering all that, the performance was more than good."

Kubica has tested for Renault and Williams using specially adapted controls, but otherwise insists he suffers no physical limitations to his driving, a position Isola supports from his own observation.

"I don't believe he has any limitation," Isola added. "He was able to drive the car as the other drivers [did]. I didn't see any limitation."