Q & A with Robert Kubica

Robert Kubica: Well, you know the season is pretty long and I have done through Friday driving and tests plenty of days of driving. So it was good to take a break off and come back here in Turkey after two and a half weeks off. It was the same for me as every other driver.

Q. How much of a disappointment was it getting that phone call in Hungary on Sunday night to say you had lost your seventh place?

RK: Of course it would have been nicer to have two points already in the pocket. But anyway mistakes can happen and we got disqualified for being two kilos too light. But it has gone. It is in the past and we have to think for the coming races and that is what we are trying to do.

Q. You and Michael Schumacher were the only two drivers who finished on wet tyres. His car wasn't weighed, whereas yours was. Do you think if he had been weighed then he could have been underweight?

RK: I don't know. Our tyres had done 51 laps, because when I stopped for the second pitstop I stayed with the same tyres. If we put new tyres on the drying track they would have grained a lot, so we made the right decision. But Michael retired with three laps to go and with three laps you have more than seven kilos in your car.

I am not interested if Michael was underweight or not. We were and we got disqualified, as it should be. We make sure now that when the predictions for the weather are so-so and there is some possibility on the rain, we will have a bit more of a (weight) margin for the used tyres. My tyres were finished and that is why we were two kilos two light.

Q. When did you get the phone call from Mario Theissen saying you were staying on at BMW-Sauber?

RK: On Monday morning.

Q. Is there less pressure on you this weekend because of the situation?

RK: I never have pressure. Even at the Hungaroring I was pretty happy with how I felt and how I developed during the weekend. I did not feel any pressure and there were a lot of question marks about how I would perform, with the start and so on. But everything went pretty okay apart from the two mistakes, which I was not happy about - especially after the race.

But after analysing and watching how everybody did, our first set of tyres were not properly at the right temperature, they were too cold, and it was like I was on ice. I was running three seconds slower than with the second set, so the second part of that race was pretty good. The track was drying, I was on intermediates, and I was trying to keep a good pace and thinking about finishing the race on these tyres. Unfortunately I was two kilos too light.

Q. How was the reception in Poland when you returned?

RK: The people do not have clear ideas sometimes, because they think that after my results on Friday they were thinking that maybe I could finish on the podium. Anyway with our car seventh, on a debut race, it was a really good result, even with those two mistakes.

We managed to go to Q3, we were really heavy, and starting the race we thought the track would dry up quicker and that is why we didn't want to destroy straight away the tyres. So we started with lower pressure to save the tyres, but unfortunately the track did not dry up so quickly and I struggled really a lot to stay on the track.

That is why the mistakes were so easy to happen. When I stopped to change the nose and we put on a second set of the tyres, the intermediates, I was straightaway much quicker. Then I did a proper race I would say. In Poland, yes, people were not I would say surprised...but you would have to ask them.

Q. Were the newspapers full of reports on Formula One? Is it now a number one sport in Poland all of a sudden?

RK: Yeah, quite suddenly everybody there is an expert in Formula One! Everybody knows everything about F1, and generally in Poland there are a lot of newspapers that only want to write about something sensational and they just write bullshit. But anyway, everywhere I think is the same problem. Of course there were some good newspapers that wrote some proper interviews and reports, which I appreciate.

Q. With Jacques Villeneuve having left, and you getting the last five races, you must feel that next year it is pretty much guaranteed you will be here at BMW?

RK: I really don't know. I think with these five races to go, it is a test for me and a good possibility to get some experience for the future - and maybe even for next year. But there is no decision, there is nothing, but I will try and do as I have all season - to do as good as possible as I can, and then we will see if it is enough.

Q. Have they told you anything about next year yet?

RK: No.

Q. Do you feel any sympathy for Villeneuve?

RK: I don't see a big difference if I replace Villeneuve or someone else. I think Jacques was trying to keep his seat and I was trying to do the best job as possible to show to Mario and the people who decide in our team that I can do a good job. That is part of the game. Everybody is trying to do the best they can and this is life, both in F1 and sport generally.

Q. Does it feel strange being a race driver and not being able to do many laps on a Friday?

RK: Yeah, it is completely different. Generally when I was doing Friday and this was my only running at a Grand Prix, we were trying different sets of tyres, evaluation of aero and set-up. It is true, when you are a Friday driver and you are quick, everybody says you are on low fuel. And when you are slow, they say you are not good.

It is not right. I cannot say, but I think the team knows how well you are performing and what condition the car is in. I think it showed also at the Hungaroring, even not doing a full Friday I can keep doing well in Grands Prix as a race driver and I am not two seconds off.

It is part of the game and especially in Budapest it was strange that normally I do 60 laps on a Friday, and now I do five laps. That is not easy for me, especially with the new tracks that I don't know. But also at the Hungaroring I drove only once, five years ago, so it was not easy and I am pretty confident.