Robert Kubica’s dreams of returning to Formula One received another boost as Renault confirmed Monday the Pole will drive during a test in Hungary on August 2.
Kubica will pilot Renault’s 2017 car for the first time following two successful tests in the 2012 model earlier this year.
The 32-year-old was forced to quit F1 in 2011 following life-changing injuries to his right arm sustained in a rally crash but has always harbored hopes of returning to the pinnacle of motorsport.
“The first two days of testing allowed both Robert and ourselves to gather a great amount of information,” Renault’s F1 managing director, Cyril Abiteboul said in a statement.
“The upcoming session with the R.S.17 at the Hungaroring will allow us all to obtain detailed and precise data in a current car and representative conditions.
“After this test, we will carefully analyse the collected information to determine in what conditions it would be possible for Robert to return to competition in the upcoming years.”
The two-day test will be attended by all 10 F1 teams, and follows on from the Hungarian Grand Prix which takes place Sunday.
Kubica raced 76 times in F1 claiming 12 podiums and one win — at the 2008 Canadian Grand Prix — over five seasons between 2006 and 2010.
A hugely popular figure among both F1 drivers and fans, Kubica would be a welcome addition to the 2018 grid, says F1 journalist Maurice Hamilton.
“The recent test showed that he’d lost none of his will to win or his feel for the car,” Hamilton told CNN earlier this month.
“He had the natural ability that the Lewis Hamiltons of this world have got — the affinity with the car … he could make it talk. He had this incredible flair that is very hard to define but you could see it.”
Kubica has been “happy” with his progress since returning to F1 action in June testing for Renault at Valencia’s Ricardo Tormo Circuit in June.
“I had been away from an F1 car for six years but what I felt there was very, very promising and I was very surprised how well things went,” Kubica told CNN at the UK’s Goodwood Festival of Speed earlier this month.
“There were a lot of emotions. The most important highlight was that I got in the car and I felt very comfortable and that I got up to a good level very, very fast. I am happy to be back in an F1 car.”