Robert Kubica’s Formula One comeback continues

Last month, Robert Kubica drove a 2012-spec, V8-powered Formula One car for the first time in six years. And it was good. Now, he’s going to drive a 2017-spec V6 turbo.

Renault has confirmed that the 32-year old former F1 driver will test its R.S.17 next week at the Hungaroring test session, right after the Grand Prix.

And, excitingly, this isn’t a one-off session: it is, according to Renault, “a new phase in assessing Robert Kubica’s capabilities”.

Cyril Abetoul, Renault Sport Racing’s big boss, clarified: “The first two days of testing allowed both Robert and ourselves to gather a great amount of information.

“The upcoming session with the R.S.17 at the Hungaroring will allow us all to obtain detailed and precise data in a current car and representative conditions. After this test, we will carefully analyse the collected information to determine in what conditions it would be possible for Robert to return to competition in the upcoming years,” he added.

So, let’s just clarify for a moment: Robert will test a modern-era F1 car to decide if he’s still fast enough for Formula One in the future. Oh yes.

No pressure then, Rob...