Kubica banking on big Polish support in Hungary

Williams' Robert Kubica is expecting a big contingent of Polish fans to turn up in Budapest this weekend and spur him on after his top-10 finish last Sunday at Hockenheim.

Kubica's P10 finish in the German Grand Prix delivered to the 34-year-old his first championship point since Abu Dhabi in 2010, but it also brought Williams its first point of the season.

The Williams driver rounded off the top-10 in Germany thanks to a penalty that demoted Alfa Romeo's drivers in the final results. Kubica admitted he had mixed feelings about his achievement.

"It's good to have this one point on the scoreboard, but the way it came for sure is not something you would expect," he said.

"It was a crazy race, many mistakes. We managed to stay on track although our pace was questionable, but we managed to keep it on the black.

"This point is thanks to the guys who are doing a great job on-track, pushing really hard. We are really not having a great moment, but still they keep working really hard and Hockenheim was thanks to them."

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Looking ahead to this weekend's event, Kubica said he harbors good memories of the Hungaroring dating back to his early days in F1 and also to his childhood.

"Hungary is the closest event to a home race for me and so even though it’s not in Poland, I expect a lot of Polish fans to attend," Kubica said.

"I made my Formula One debut at the 2006 Hungarian Grand Prix and it was the first Formula 1 race I attended when I was 12 years old in 1997.

"There are a lot of things that I can relate to with Hungary, so let’s hope for a good weekend. Finally, I would like to thank the fans for their support during this difficult period."

Williams senior race engineer provides the low-down from the technical side.

"Following the high-speed and high efficiency circuits of Silverstone and Hockenheim, the opening part of the 2019 season finishes at the high downforce, low efficiency Hungaroring.

"The track was renewed in 2016 and now has a fairly smooth and consistent surface which is less demanding on the tyres.

"As in Germany, Pirelli have made the middle of their compound range available and so C2 is the Hard, C3 Medium and C4 the Soft tyre.

"How these will behave will depend on the track temperature, which can regularly exceed 50°C during August in Budapest.

"We approach the race in Hungary as we do any other, with tyre testing and parts evaluation on Friday before we switch focus to qualifying and the race.

"Once pack-up is complete on Sunday evening, the whole team can start to think about some well-earned rest and recuperation before we head off to the Ardennes for one of the best races of the season."

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