Robert Kubica's return to Formula 1 after his serious injury in 2011 will certainly be one of the topics of greatest interest, at least in the first races of the season. The Pole was close to returning last year, but Williams preferred Sergey Sirotkin over him, relegating Kubica to the role of third driver. After a year spent in the garage, trying to lend a hand to a team in disarray like Grove's, Robert was promoted to starting driver, finally ready to return to racing. Many are still skeptical about what Kubica can give given the malfunction of his right arm, but they certainly don't think so in Williams, as also confirmed by technical director Paddy Lowe, who also wanted to explain why in 2018 Sirotkin was preferred to him .
“It is never so easy to choose drivers on a technical basis – said Paddy Lowe. We went through a pretty thorough process last year, and that's why Sergey seemed like the right choice, and I think Robert wasn't able to show his best. Over these 12 months we have been able to evaluate everything, get to know him better and see the kind of contribution he can make to Williams, and this supported us in our decision. We will be 100% committed to both drivers and we are confident that Robert is a first class driver and ready to return to Formula 1: he is competent, he gives his all. Maybe others, outsiders, may think that he has limits, but that doesn't concern us, for us he is absolutely a 100% ready rider."