OCTOBER 23, 2019

Sponsor says news about Kubica in a few weeks

News about Robert Kubica's future will emerge "in a few weeks".

News about Robert Kubica's future will emerge "in a few weeks".

That is the claim of his sponsor, the Polish oil company PKN Orlen. Orlen is tipped to join Kubica in leaving the struggling backmarker Williams for 2020.

The company is believed to be in advanced talks with Haas about a title sponsorship. The race seats at the American team are occupied for 2020, so Kubica has been linked with a reserve and Friday practice role.

"I don't know why everyone keeps talking about third driver," Kubica told Polish media. "I repeat that racing is my priority, although not at any cost."

Kubica, 34, is also linked with a switch to the German touring car series DTM.

But Orlen says it will continue to be aligned with Kubica.

"Orlen will be in Formula 1 and will be with Robert," said CEO Daniel Obajtek.

"We will not reveal the details of the conversations, which are very fruitful, and I do not exclude anything.

"We are calm," the Orlen chief added. "Robert is with Orlen and this will not change. We will tell you about the details in a few weeks."

Kubica does not hide that he may need to leave Formula 1.

"If there are no places and I want to race, it means that in 2020 I do not have to be in Formula 1," he said.

As for potentially combining a race seat elsewhere with a test role in F1, Kubica answered: "It is possible, but the first thing I care about is continuing (to race)."

(GMM)