Kubica 'has to earn' 2019 seat - Williams

Williams' chief technical officer Paddy Lowe has insisted that Robert Kubica 'has to earn' a seat in the 2019 Formula One campaign with the team, even though the Polish driver came extremely close to featuring in the 2018 season only to be taken on as a reserve driver instead.

Kubica suffered a career-threatening injury during a rally car accident back in 2011 which cost him part of his forearm, but since then has been aiming to rehabilitate and make his comeback to Formula One action.

Well over a dozen reconstructive surgeries later, he looked to be on the brink of a comeback during the summer when he tested extensively for Williams, but eventually lost out on a seat to Sergey Sirotkin.

He has since been announced as a reserve driver for the team, but Lowe insists this does not mean an automatic driving place for 2019 even if he has full of respect for Kubica's attempts to return from injury.

"I think, to further put it in a different way, Robert has been on a journey to find his way back to Formula 1, from the trauma that occurred to his arm in the rally accident.

"And all credit to him, it's required an incredible commitment, a lot of bravery and a lot of dedication to that objective.

"And he's on that journey, and with us this next year as the development driver that journey will continue.

"Ultimately, it's not always about what's missing - it's a competitive market, to obtain a race seat. There are many more very, very talented drivers than there are seats.

"And Robert would want it no other way. He's got to earn the right to the race seat, whatever race seats may be available in 2019."

Lowe revealed that although Kubica impressed during testing, Sirotkin was the clear favourite to take the seat.

"We've done a lot of work with many drivers in this selection process," Lowe continued.

"We picked Sergey on the full range of his performance, against many drivers, not just Robert. He was the clear favourite."

Lowe is confident that if called upon, Kubica would have no problem in stepping in for a Grand Prix race.

"He would be fine, we're very confident of that," he said.

"Otherwise he wouldn't be our reserve driver, if we didn't think he was competent to race.

"And not just competent, able to perform well in the race, to race competitively."