'Successful' Williams test for Robert Kubica

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Robert Kubica has made another step toward potentially resuming his curtailed Formula 1 career this week, by running a 2014-specification Williams at Silverstone.

The team gave no details about how it had gone or how many laps Kubica had completed. The only comment from Williams was that the test had been "successful".

The 32-year-old Polish driver took part in 76 Grand Prix races between 2006 and 2010. He made his début in Hungary with the BMW Sauber team. His last appearance was in Abu Dhabi for Renault.

Prior to the start of the 2011 season, Kubica was involved in a big crash while taking part in the Ronde di Andora rally. He suffered serious injuries to his leg, shoulder and arm.

He was able to return to competitive motorsport, taking part in the World Rally Championship from 2013. However it was thought the injuries to his arm ruled out a return to Formula 1.

Kubica took part in three test sessions with Renault over the summer. He has now completed a one-day test for Williams. The test took place on Wednesday in overcast conditions at Silverstone in the FW36. The car had previously been used by Lance Stroll for circuit familiarisation.

It's part of an evaluation to determine whether Kubica's fitness would allow him to race full time in F1. The team is understood to be planning a second test for him at the Hungaroring next week.

Kubica emerges as a front-runner for Williams seat

But even if he passes the necessary medical evaluations, Kubica still faces an uphill battle to actually win the race seat.

Sauber driver Pascal Wehrlein is eyeing an opening at the team for 2018. Current driver Felipe Massa has also not ruled out staying on for another season.

Massa retired at the end 2016 but was summoned back to the team at short notice, after Valtteri Bottas joined Mercedes at the start of 2017.

The team's reserve driver Paul di Resta is another driver in contention. He subbed for an unwell Massa in this year's Hungarian Grand Prix at the end of July.

The Scot could get another chance to try the cockpit on for size next week, the day after Kubica's second proposed outing in the car.

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Andrew Lewin

Andrew first became a fan of Formula 1 during the time when Michael Schumacher and Damon Hill were stepping into the limelight after the era of Alain Prost, Nigel Mansell and Aryton Senna. He's been addicted ever since, and has been writing about the sport now for nearly a quarter of a century for a number of online news sites. He's also written professionally about GP2 (now Formula 2), GP3, IndyCar, World Rally Championship, MotoGP and NASCAR. In his other professional life, Andrew is a freelance writer, social media consultant, web developer/programmer, and digital specialist in the fields of accessibility, usability, IA, online communities and public sector procurement. He worked for many years in magazine production at Bauer Media, and for over a decade he was part of the digital media team at the UK government's communications department. Born and raised in Essex, Andrew currently lives and works in south-west London.