Alfa Romeo hope to retain Kubica in reserve role for 2021

Sam Hall
Tuesday 22 December 2020 14:04

Alfa Romeo team principal Frédéric Vasseur has made clear he is eager to retain the services of Formula 1 veteran Robert Kubica in a reserve role for a second year.

The 36-year-old Pole joined Alfa Romeo earlier this year after being replaced by rookie Nicholas Latifi at Williams.

Across the season, the 36-year-old completed five practice sessions for the team whilst also participating in both pre-season testing and in the post-season young driver test.

Asked of his desire to keep Kubica at Alfa Romeo into 2021, Vasseur answered: "I hope so.

"But for sure the season was difficult and mainly for Robert because he has to do, in parallel the DTM [German Touring Cars] project and the Formula 1 and it was a crazy season, at least, a crazy six months."

Kubica's personal sponsor PKN Orlen joined Alfa Romeo alongside the Pole as a co-title sponsor in a "multi-year partnership", a factor that will likely keep negotiations on a contract extension relatively short.

Explaining how he hopes to expand Kubica's role, should a deal be done, Vasseur added: "We would like to have him a little bit more into the car, a little bit more into the simulator to develop our tools and he’s fully committed with us.

"He’s doing a very good job and he has shown us that the pace is still there and I’m very happy to keep Robert in the team for next year."