Inside Line: Time for Williams to quash the conspiracy theories

A swathe of opinion in Polish media circles claim 'their driver' is not getting the same equipment as his rookie teammate George Russell, who just happens to be trouncing the comeback veteran this season.

Some outlets in Poland go as far as claiming that the Pole has not driven George's chassis, which is contrary to numerous well-sourced reports supposedly there was a chassis swap of sorts.

With George revealing as much during the Spanish Grand Prix weekend last month, “I’m in Robert’s chassis this weekend, there was a new chassis Robert was getting, which was always the plan."

"But then because my chassis was damaged from Baku, I’ve now been allocated this chassis. He’s in my Baku chassis, I’m in his chassis from the start of the year.”

In a recent interview with Przegląd Sportowy, Robert is quoted saying: “I have never driven George’s car so I cannot judge, but you do not have to drive to see some things.”

This is where it gets confusing and raises the question: who to believe?

Robert continued: "The situation is complicated and there are certain things that do not help in extracting the maximum with regularity in the whole process. I think that some races went quite well, even if it was not my best, because for various reasons it was not possible: sometimes it was my mistakes, sometimes completely out of my control."

"It is very hard. Canada was a disappointing and very strange weekend. On Friday I left the first training, but in the second I found a good rhythm from the very beginning. Later, all these impressions completely disappeared. It was a big disappointment."

Notably, the Polish media refer to Robert as "their driver" which makes sense as the country is proud of their Formula 1 hero whose 'Never Give Up' tale has been so inspirational. That it has hit these muddy waters is a sad twist and has turned the whole fable very dark.

Robert added, "There was consistency in Monaco. I could work on the car, on building self-confidence. These are very important things."

"Later, however, you have to face a big change in your feelings and performance. Probably this is the biggest problem this season so far. In Barcelona, ​​my first practice lap was much better than my qualifying."

"Okay, maybe it was not a huge difference, but if we take into account modes, fuel, tyres - even without taking into account the conditions - and suddenly there is a loss of one second, it is quite annoying. It's hard to understand. In the case of Canada, the team found some reasons. Some things were not right."

Clearly, the 34-year-old, inadvertently or not, is placing the blame for his lack of pace on the piece of kit handed to him for each race. In the end, he will have to be explaining to the PKN Orlen bean counters why they even bothered with $15-million, which allegedly bought Robert the seat with the once mighty team that has been reduced to building snails as F1 cars.

Adding fuel to the fire were comments made to Przegląd Sportowy by Michael Latifi, the billionaire father of Nicolas Latifi, Formula 2 driver and test driver for Williams who did FP1 in Kubica's car on the Friday of the Canadian Grand Prix weekend.

Latifi senior is quoted in the report saying: "Nicolas told me that driving the current Williams is very tough and that you can not compare this car to the Force India he used to drive. It's so difficult to drive, that it requires additional gym exercises to feel comfortable at the wheel."

Facts are that the Williams FW42 is the worst car on the grid by a country mile. They are only in the race because the 107% rule belongs to a different era. The way their helpless drivers (passengers?) have to dive for cover every time they are lapped in the race (more than once) is so ridiculous it borders on obscene.

Whether Kubica has a point and his car is devoid of the 'trick bits' that are plugged into Russell's car - perhaps making it a tad quicker but still three to four seconds shy of the pace - will be debated for ages, unless Williams clarifies the mushrooming conspiracy theory.

The best way for them to quash this before it gets ugly, and the PKN partnership goes further south, is to do a very public car swap. Not just a chassis swap: Robert jumps into Russell's car and vice-versa, proper back-to-back with only seat adjustments and of course the special wheel for the Pole.

Anything less than that will leave many unanswered questions which Williams would be shrewd to answer for their fans, their investors and partners and of course their drivers, Robert in particular.

https://www.grandprix247.com/2019/05/11/kubica-it-is-a-bit-confusing/