Williams has announced that Robert Kubica has decided to leave the team at the end of the 2019 season.
The Polish driver, who made his return to Formula 1 this year following his horrific rallying accident in 2011, originally served as Williams’ reserve & development driver in 2018 before being confirmed to race alongside George Russell for 2019.
His return has been been blighted by Williams’ struggles right from pre-testing when it missed out on two days of running, combined with the car massively lacking in performance compared to the rest of the field.
Kubica has too been outperformed against rookie team-mate Russell, with the Briton out-qualifying the veteran driver in every race so far in 2019.
Despite this, Kubica scored Williams’ sole point this season at the German Grand Prix due to the post-race penalties given to the Alfa Romeo drivers.
Kubica stated he was grateful to Williams for giving him an opportunity and admitted his focus has now shifted away from F1.
“I have enjoyed my time with ROKiT Williams Racing, both as Reserve & Development Driver and as a Race Driver this year,” said Kubica. “But I feel that the time is now right for me to move on in the next chapter in my career”.
Claire Williams, Williams deputy team principal, was grateful for Kubica’s work for the team as the team continues its road to recovery.
“I would like to thank Robert for his hard work and respect his decision to leave the team at the end of the 2019 season.
“We thank him for his continued efforts throughout what has been a challenging couple of seasons and wish him well in his future endeavours”.
