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Q & A with Robert Kubica

Robert Kubica arrives at the German Grand Prix aware that his chances of a good result are slim, despite the introduction of new components for his BMW Sauber

AUTOSPORT heard from the Pole ahead of the Nurburgring weekend.

Q. You have some new parts on the car this weekend - what are your expectations for the improvements?

Robert Kubica: We have a few new parts like the diffuser, rear suspension, the revised front wing, so all in all we are expecting some improvement, but it's difficult to judge how big it will be. I don't think that it will change the situation a lot. Most of it will depend on how our car suits the track. I'm looking forward to testing the revised suspension to see if the driveability of the car can improve.

Q. Is it a particularly big step compared to previous races?

RK: No, it's not a huge step. It's normal stuff.

Q. Are you looking more to next year now?

RK: I don't think I'm looking to next year because this year is not finished. There are still many races to go, and in our case especially that is good. We can use these races for development. All in all, without testing somehow you have to test in the races and I will be glad to see that we are bringing new parts and trying to understand which direction we have to go and where to improve. It sounds strange, because we are not fighting for top positions but it's good that after three weeks we are back in the car and we can to see if we are going in the right direction or not.

Q. Are you going to the factory more?

RK: I have been more often but still a driver input and feedback is quite limited because in the end there are m any engineers, many designers, many people that are specifically in our team for different jobs. I'm the driver, so I drive and give my feedback and suggestions but that is the limit of my job.

Q. You had a difficult time last year when you couldn't develop the car and again this year. Can the team bounce back next year?

RK: I think somehow we are more experienced and we know more even with this not ideal development pace. Everybody knows that you have to work at 100% and F1 is very difficult to predict, so you are not able to predict where you will be next year. That's very important. Everybody is pushing really hard - there are some teams that are really quick but still pushing. Look at Red Bull with a B-car which after seven races is amazing. It shows that it is possible and now we have to make sure that we do the same or even better job. If you want to win you have to do a better job than the others.

Q. How much fun are you having racing - at Silverstone you were having a great battle with Alonso and Hamilton even though it was for 15th or 16th?

RK: It was a good fight! I was racing with them and not looking at the position on the pit board. But when Vettel lapped me I realised that it's not so good.

Q. Where will you be next year?

RK: It's very early to say. Looking at what's going on, it is very difficult to understand what will happen. It's just too early. I'm not looking at next year too much. Three weeks ago we were looking at a new category, one week ago everything is fixed and now again there is a question.

Q. From the point of view of your career, is this a wasted year for you?

RK: I don't think it's a wasted year. This year we can learn a lot. As a team, as a driver I think racing even for P15 can teach you new things. Driving a difficult car to drive like we have this year can also improve you in some aspects. From a negative situation we can take out some positives, some learning. Then if we can turn a negative part of the season to positive it will be even better. The experience will help in the future.

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