Kubica not sure he will remain F1 reserve

Nov.26 (GMM) Robert Kubica says he is yet to decide if he will remain Alfa Romeo’s official F1 reserve driver in 2021.

The Pole combined the role with a full-time seat in the German touring car championship DTM this year, but he admits that the corona crisis made his schedule exhausting.

“When the season finally ends, it may take me many weeks to recover,” Kubica told Sokolim Okiem.

“I think my next season will look different. With such a schedule, I realised that the main thing is that as a person you only have one health.

“I already knew that it was going to be difficult, but due to the pandemic and the situation in which we found ourselves in general, everything became even more complicated.

“Now, we don’t know when the pandemic will end, and I cannot afford a repeat of the situation that happened this year. I’m not talking about my racing, but I must have time to take care of my physical and psychological preparation. I need to find the right balance.”

Indeed, F1 is planning an even longer schedule of 23 races for 2021, which 35-year-old Kubica said will be a tough task for any reserve driver.

When asked if he will stay with Alfa Romeo next year, he answered: “It all depends on how much work it involves. If I do something else, I will not be able to come to 23 Formula 1 race weekends in a year.

“I definitely don’t want to hang around airports and go to races just to watch them on TV and follow the laptimes.”

Kubica said he will therefore prioritise his racing ambitions, and admits he already has an eye on a particular series.

“I have a couple of interesting projects on the horizon, and a desire to take on a new challenge,” he said. “My priority is the Japanese Super GT series, so if I could choose, that interests me above the others, but so far there is no opportunity.

“I am a very organised person, so right now I am trying to understand what projects make sense to do and what to not do. But in my opinion it would be naive to plan something for the year ahead, although I hope that everything will gradually return to normal.

“At the moment I am looking at everything through the prism of what we experienced in 2020.”