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Robert Kubica admits that the Williams Formula 1 team is testing its new FW42 car in a “compromised” condition this week at Barcelona.
Williams’s 2019 car missed the first two days of running altogether due to delays with the production of parts, and only took to the track for the first time on Wednesday afternoon after arriving at the circuit at 4am that morning.
Williams said on Wednesday it was still waiting for parts to begin aero work.
Kubica drove the car for the first time on Thursday morning, logging 48 laps before handing over to team-mate George Russell for the afternoon session.
Asked what he had learned in his short time in the cockpit, Kubica said: “You can get a feel of it, it’s not like the car is completely off.
“I think there’s still something to put on the car, probably not a lot, but for sure there are things that were compromised.
“It’s not right that I talk about them, I’m here for driving, so I have to concentrate on this.
“Finally I have a car, so hopefully next week we can concentrate on preparing better for the first race, because it’s close.”
Kubica spent much of the morning running with aero rakes fitted to the car, and said he had only a dozen laps to “drive my own pace”.
“It doesn’t feel like day four of testing, it felt like day one,” he said.
“I got the opportunity for 12 laps to get a feel for the car, which is of course limiting. At least we achieved all sorts of stuff – not all, it wasn’t an easy morning.
“I’ve been here since last Friday. I’ve never waited so long to get 12-14 laps that I could drive my own pace.
“You just prepare what you can. It wasn’t nice days for all the team, but finally we got the car.
“In the end the team did a good job to build it up as quick as possible.
“Of course there are some compromises. But finally we got the car, so we can concentrate on our job, and look forward to next week.”
Asked if he felt the car represented a step forward from its predecessor, Kubica said: “In some ways it is a step forward. For the others, not necessarily.
“The question is if we have done a bigger step forward and smaller backwards, because of regulations. Then it’s a question of balancing.
“At this stage it’s not correct to talk about the performance of the car, or feelings. We will see next weekend.”