Kubica expects tough end to great year

The Pole reckons Renault's lack of pace at Yas Marina last year, when drivers Fernando Alonso and Romain Grosjean started 15th and 19th respectively and finished only 14th and 18th, does not bode well for its 2010 chances at the track.

"I think for sure we would like to be really competitive, although I think Renault here were really poor last year," said Kubica.

"Realistically speaking I think it will be a very difficult one. We will just have to wait and see. I think it will be very difficult to get our car into the top six."

Despite predicting that his year will come to a disappointing end, with Renault's form having tailed off in recent races after some very promising performances, Kubica said the season overall had been a great success.

"I think it was a good year," said Kubica. "The first half was nearly perfect or perfect. The second half was not as ideal as we were hoping or planning.

"I think it would be very difficult to have 19 clean races like we had in the first nine races. We have lost a lot of points during the second half of the year due to different situations and different issues.

"In our situation these were very, very important. If you are scoring 100 points in the year, to lose 30/40 points due to different issues is quite a big amount.

"All in all the year was very interesting and we will be very satisfied with what we achieved. Still, once you are doing the year you wish to have more and more and achieve better results.

"If somebody had told us we would finish on the podium and be fighting with the top teams in some races we would have all signed straight away."

He felt results such as his podium finishes in Monaco and Belgium raised expectations beyond what Renault was realistically going to be capable of as it rebuilt after its '09 problems.

"After a couple of races where we had a lucky podium in Australia and good races at the beginning of the year, people raise expectations quite a lot and somehow we were expecting more on some occasions than we could achieve," Kubica said. "All in all I think we can be happy."