Lack of grip leaves Kubica trailing teammate by big margin

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Robert Kubica cited a lack of overall grip in Saturday's Hungarian Grand Prix qualifying session to justify the whopping 1.3s gap between himself and Williams teammate George Russell.

Russell, who will line up P16 on Sunday's grid, delivered to Williams its best qualifying performance of 2019 while Kubica was left trailing once again at the tail end of the field.

Yet the Polish driver felt happy with the balance of his FW42 chassis but insisted that grip was at a premium around the Hungaroring, an issue which he said a "desperate" settings change on his Williams could not correct.

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"The gap was pretty big, but it has been big before in qualifying," Kubica said.

"I felt happy with the car and with the balance, but in general I lacked grip. We were lacking half a second, we tried something desperate and as you can see it did not work.

"Even if I would have kept everything the same it would still be off the others.

"When there's a 1.3-second gap, even if you cut it in half, it's still quite a significant difference. Everyone is driving into the grip limitations, and I don't think we had balance issues."

The relative performance between Williams' drivers must be a cause for concern for Kubica.

But the 34-year-old preferred to focus on the positives, and that includes the support of around 40,000 Polish fans that have converged to Budapest.

"Nice weather and a lot of spectators, so at least this is good," Kubica said a bit tongue-in-cheek.

"For sure, he [Russell] is happy and you can see it on the lap time.

"Hopefully one day I will get the same feeling in the car and I'll be able to enjoy it even more."

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Phillip van Osten

Motor racing was a backdrop from the outset in Phillip van Osten's life. Born in Southern California, Phillip grew up with the sights and sounds of fast cars thanks to his father, Dick van Osten, an editor and writer for Auto Speed and Sport and Motor Trend. Phillip's passion for racing grew even more when his family moved to Europe and he became acquainted with the extraordinary world of Grand Prix racing. He was an early contributor to the monthly French F1i Magazine, often providing a historic or business perspective on Formula 1's affairs. In 2012, he co-authored along with fellow journalist Pierre Van Vliet the English-language adaptation of a limited edition book devoted to the great Belgian driver Jacky Ickx. He also authored "The American Legacy in Formula 1", a book which recounts the trials and tribulations of American drivers in Grand Prix racing. Phillip is also a commentator for Belgian broadcaster Be.TV for the US Indycar series.