Flavio Briatore says it’s a shame Robert Kubica will not make a sensational return to formula one in 2018.
A source close to Kubica, the former BMW and Renault driver who almost lost his arm in a 2011 rally crash, admits the Pole’s comeback bid is now “game over”.
Other sources claim Williams has definitely signed up Sergey Sirotkin, the Vladimir Putin-linked Russian driver.
“I’m very sorry that Kubica did not manage to convince Williams,” former Renault team boss Briatore is quoted by Speed Week.
“I have talked to (Kubica co-manager) Nico Rosberg several times and know that everything has been tried, but the Russian has an enormous budget.