Robert Kubica says his last-minute call-up by Alfa Romeo at Zandvoort was a challenging proposition, both technically and physically, but the Pole went home "satisfied" with his performance.
Kubica was drafted in on Saturday morning following Kimi Raikkonen's positive Covid-19 test.
It marked the first time the 36-year-old was set to race in Formula 1 since the final round of his comeback season at Abu Dhabi in 2019.
The Alfa reserve, who raced last year in the DTM series and is competing this season in the ELMS with LMP2 squad, wasn't short of breath around Zandvoort's undulating and twisty circuit, but the layout was physically very demanding for the Polish driver onboard an F1 car, especially on race day.
"Yeah, demanding as expected," Kubica said after last Sunday's race. "I met shortly before the race with George [Russell]. He said it was probably the toughest track physically.
"So yeah, considering the long break I had, from a physical point of view, it wasn’t easy!"
©AlfaRomeo
But in addition to Zandvoort's physical difficulties, there were also a series of technical issues faced by the 2008 Canadian Grand Prix winner in Holland.
"From a technical point of view, from a driving point of view, it wasn’t easy at all," he added.
"First time using the medium tyre, first time using the hard tyre, first time in two years. [I had] some fights, some following cars but honestly, I would go home satisfied about today."
As he assessed his return to the fray, Kubica was happy overall with his run to P15, just ahead of Williams' Nicholas Latifi which he pipped on the ultimate lap, insisting that his Alfa Romeo C41 was the best car he has driven in eleven years!
"I had a few battles, the last time I probably had a car which could fight was 11 years ago because, in the end, 2019 [with Williams] was more of survival than enjoyment.
"I did have some nice fights with Seb, defending, then trying to catch Latifi and managed to overtake him on the last lap. All in all, you could do better, but it has been a demanding Sunday for me."
Alfa Romeo has yet to confirm if Kubica will remain in Raikkonen's seat for this week's Italian Grand Prix. But regardless of his fate in the coming days, 'Bobby K' enjoyed his second comeback of sorts to F1.
"For me, it has already been a great opportunity here," he said. "We can say Poland had three F1 drivers in the last 15 years. It was always the same guy coming back two times, so we’ll see."
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