Valtteri Bottas hopes that Robert Kubica remains connected to the Alfa Romeo Formula 1 team, with the Pole expected to depart at the end of the year. After losing his Williams race seat after the 2019 season, Kubica switched across to Alfa Romeo in a third/reserve driver role, bringing a title sponsorship with him. As part of this deal, he has driven in numerous FP1 sessions and other tests as well as subbing in for a COVID-stricken Kimi Raikkonen at the 2021 Dutch and Italian Grands Prix. However, speaking in Abu Dhabi, 2008 Canadian Grand Prix winner Kubica stated he believed his F1 career was coming to an end, but Bottas hopes that this is not the case and the Pole can continue in the sport.
Bottas feels Kubica can still contribute
Kubica's first F1 career was halted in February 2011 when he suffered horrendous injuries in a rally accident during pre-season testing. In mid-2017, Renault - the team he was driving for at the time of the accident - granted him a test in '12 spec machinery which subsequently led to a day in the '17 car during the post-Hungary test. Although Renault did not offer him a seat, Williams did but only as third driver as Sergey Sirotkin got the nod for 2018 - but Kubica found himself partnering George Russell for '19 in the dreadfully uncompetitive car. Having made his debut in 2006 and a veteran of 99 starts, Bottas feels that Kubica's voice is one worth having in the garage. "He's still got lots of experience in Formula 1," the Finn explained to media including RacingNews365.com when asked what Kubica brings to the team. "Sometimes it's good to get somebody from outside the core internal race team that travels [to Grands Prix] to express his opinion." Should Kubica depart the team, it is likely that Formula 2 racer Theo Pourchaire would step up to reserve driver for Alfa Romeo, having made his FP1 debut for the team in the United States.
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