F1 | Sirotkin vs Kubica, Minardi “The end of a fairytale”

The official announcement is still missing, but just when we thought the Robert Kubica would come back to Formula 1 beside Lance Stroll at Williams the latest rumours speak of Sergej Sirotkin as the Grove’s new driver to form the youngest pair of drivers in the Circus.

During the Pirelli tests at Abu Dhabi the Pole and the Russian took turns at the wheel for the final confrontation. We caught up with Gian Carlo Minardi who in 2010 saw the young Russian make take his first steps in Formula ACI CSAI Abarth organized by ACI Sport’s who then went on to win the title the next year.

“Robert Kubica would have been a technical choice, but the economic factor got the better. Father Stroll could have had a hand in this as he would have preferred a young debutant at his son’s side rather than an expert driver who did very well in the tests,” was the analysis by the manager from Faenza.

“Robert’s return would have been a fairytale come true, but with Sirotkin-Stroll Williams will have the youngest pair of drivers on the grid and be launched into the future. I had the chance to follow Sergej’s debut in the world of racing cars up close. He is a very fast driver, even if he ran into some accidents. If on the one hand I am sad for Robert, on the other I am very happy seeing a young driver who grew up in our championships in F1.”