Breaking news
Formula 1
Williams explains why it parked Kubica in Russia
The Williams Formula 1 team has confirmed that a wheel retention issue caused George Russell’s accident in the Russian GP – and reiterated that a lack of spares triggered the decision to park the car of teammate Robert Kubica.
Adam Cooper
Edited: Oct 4, 2019, 3:05 PM
Copy link
Share on Viber
Russell crashed on lap 27 in Sochi, shortly after making a pitstop. The team decided to call Kubica in and retire him a lap later, citing the need to conserve parts. Kubica’s sponsor PKN Orlen has subsequently queried the reason for retiring the Polish driver’s car, while hinting that it believes that the team may have breached its contractual obligations.
Read Also:
- Sponsor questions Kubica's Russian GP retirement
- Why Kubica’s amazing F1 comeback went wrong
- Kubica admits DTM "attractive" option for 2020
However, Williams made it clear today that following Russell’s heavy crash with Romain Grosjean in Singapore, the Englishman’s subsequent Sochi incident left it concerned about having enough current spares for Suzuka. Williams says that there should be no repeat of the issue that sent Russell off the road in Russia.
“We found an issue with the wheel nut retainer on George’s car, which led to the front-right wheel not sitting perfectly,” said senior race engineer Dave Robson. “This caused a lock-up under braking. The design is very mature and well-proven. The remaining inventory will be inspected thoroughly, and we do not anticipate a repeat of the issue.
“Unfortunately, we were forced to retire Robert’s car due to the amount of accident damage we have sustained in the Singapore-Russia back-to-back races in order to protect ourselves going into the next events.
“The team has worked extremely hard to ensure race quantities have improved ahead of Japan and the final races.”
Read Also:
We want your opinion!
What would you like to see on Motorsport.com?
Take our 5 minute survey.
- The Motorsport.com Team
Read and post comments
Read also :
Share Or Save This Story
Copy link
Share on Viber
Previous article Steiner: F1 format experiments worth it as 2021 won't fix all
Next article F1 insists "no serious discussions" with new teams
Top Comments
There are no comments at the moment. Would you like to write one?
View More & Comment
More from
Adam Cooper
RB: Tsunoda “mentally on a different level” in 2024
Formula 1
Formula 1
Japanese GP
RB: Tsunoda “mentally on a different level” in 2024
Andretti planning F2 and F3 entries to promote US talent to F1 team
Formula 1
Formula 1
Andretti planning F2 and F3 entries to promote US talent to F1 team
Andretti F1 team formally opens new Silverstone facility
Formula 1
Formula 1
Andretti F1 team formally opens new Silverstone facility
More from
Robert Kubica
Robert Kubica announces exit from AF Corse’s privateer Hypercar in WEC
WEC
WEC
Monza
11 h
Robert Kubica announces exit from AF Corse’s privateer Hypercar in WEC
Missing out on Ferrari F1 drive felt like "bleeding" to Robert Kubica
Formula 1
Formula 1
Barcelona-Catalunya GP
Missing out on Ferrari F1 drive felt like "bleeding" to Robert Kubica
You Ask The Questions: Robert Kubica
Formula 1
You Ask The Questions: Robert Kubica
More from
Williams
Franco Colapinto, George Russell to sit out FP1 at F1 Mexico GP
Formula 1
Formula 1
United States GP
Franco Colapinto, George Russell to sit out FP1 at F1 Mexico GP
Fernando Alonso blasts driving standards of bottom half of F1 grid
Formula 1
Formula 1
United States GP
Fernando Alonso blasts driving standards of bottom half of F1 grid
Latest news
Who slept worst last night: Fernando Alonso
Formula 1
F1 Formula 1
Sao Paulo GP
25 min
Who slept worst last night: Fernando Alonso
Carlos Ezpeleta: Qatar GP “noise” left MotoGP unnecessarily exposed
MotoGP
MGP MotoGP
Qatar GP
55 min
Carlos Ezpeleta: Qatar GP “noise” left MotoGP unnecessarily exposed
Oscar Piastri splits from Mark Webber management
Formula 1
F1 Formula 1
Sao Paulo GP
1 h
Oscar Piastri splits from Mark Webber management
WEC drivers question lack of full-course yellow after heavy Monza crash
WEC
WEC WEC
Monza
3 h
WEC drivers question lack of full-course yellow after heavy Monza crash
Feature
Discover prime content
Subscribe and access Motorsport.com with your ad-blocker.
From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.
You have 2 options:
- Become a subscriber.
- Disable your adblocker.
Subscribe now Already subscribed? Sign in here
Already disabled your adblocker?
Reload page
Manage Alerts
Subscribe