CNR
11th April 2008, 09:06
http://www.itv-f1.com/news_article.aspx?id=42296
Pat Symonds has admitted he regrets Renault’s failure to sign Robert Kubica to a long-term deal when the Pole was coming through the ranks to Formula 1.
The BMW ace, who scored his first F1 pole position in Bahrain last weekend, was part of the French manufacturer’s young driver scheme as a teenager but was let go from that after just one season in 2002.
Nevertheless he still got his first experience of F1 machinery with the team when he drove its car as a reward for winning the World Series by Renault series in 2005 – but despite impressing, was by then on BMW’s radar and was duly snapped up.
Speaking in Renault’s latest podcast, Symonds, the team's engineering chief, admits the 23-year-old was one that got away.
Pat Symonds has admitted he regrets Renault’s failure to sign Robert Kubica to a long-term deal when the Pole was coming through the ranks to Formula 1.
The BMW ace, who scored his first F1 pole position in Bahrain last weekend, was part of the French manufacturer’s young driver scheme as a teenager but was let go from that after just one season in 2002.
Nevertheless he still got his first experience of F1 machinery with the team when he drove its car as a reward for winning the World Series by Renault series in 2005 – but despite impressing, was by then on BMW’s radar and was duly snapped up.
Speaking in Renault’s latest podcast, Symonds, the team's engineering chief, admits the 23-year-old was one that got away.