ROBERT KUBICA INTERVIEW

Q. A day to forget?

Robert KubicaRobert Kubica: Not really, why?

Q. Because there's no pace in the car?

RK: Today is not the ideal, unfortunately it didn't work out. The pace of the car and the way we approached qualifying has been a bit disappointing. Anyway, I would not be much further forward even without the small mistake. So that's how it is.

Q. Why is the car not performing here when it has been near the front in the first two races?

RK: Some of the teams have moved forward, some of the teams are already, after the decision of the FIA, adjusting their cars to the clear idea of the regulations and unfortunately we have exactly the same car that we had in Australia. The gap to the front cars is pretty much the same, the difference is now Toro Rosso, Renault and McLaren are stronger.

Q. So it could be this bad again in Bahrain? RK: If we don't bring anything new we can struggle as well there, although in Bahrain the gaps will be smaller because downforce is not as important. Braking stability and traction is more important, but the overall picture will not change. We can perform better because we suit the track. But overall, no.

Q. So until you get the double decker diffuser on you're car you can't be at the front?

RK: I don't know. There are still no guarantees that if we have the diffuser on we would be on the front. I don't know enough about the diffusers - I don't know if it will give something so until that moment it's better that I didn't comment.

Q. Tell us about the problems you had with KERS on Friday?

RK: Yesterday I was using KERS. It was a productive day. We saw more or less what we knew already, which was that, for now, with my weight and the limitation of the weight distribution and the limitation of the car balance setup possibilities, I'm struggling. It's not ideal. Also, it's not ideal to run without so we played safe. To be honest I was expecting a bigger improvement today.

Q. Was the tyre degradation yesterday any worse than in the Barcelona test?

RK: No. The decision was not made by tyre degradation – just overall feeling. As I said, there are some advantages to running KERS, but on the other hand I don't have KERS so there's a bigger window for car balance possibilities. But overall, neither of those two is perfect.

Q. So until the weight comes off the car, it's not going to work?

RK: Yes.

Q. Bridgestone said yesterday that the tyre degradation on your car on Friday was particularly noticeable?

RK: It didn't to me. I am surprised Bridgestone said something about it if it's different. I haven't heard. It might be because they saw one tyre that was worn, but this was a test so I would not say that say that yesterday due to the KERS we had worse tyre degradation.

Q. You have already blown up an engine, with the limitation of eight are you concerned?

RK: It would be better to have one more engine for the season, but unfortunately we don't have it so we have to save some mileage. The only positive thing of today was that I saved a few laps for the engine!

Q. Would you say until the regulations are changed to take into account driver weight that your challenge for this season is gone?

RK: There are some drivers that have no problem with it that don't weigh much less than me. It looks like our car is very sensitive to the weight distribution and it's very important not only for the car balance, but the setup as well. In the past we were playing quite a lot with it and for now the situation is like this. For the future, I don't know.

Q. Any progress on this with the GPDA?

RK: Our position is clear, at least mine is. F1 has bigger problems now than to bring heavier drivers closer to the lighter drivers. There's so much going on that these kind of problems go behind primary problems. I don't think there is a lot of talk now on this topic, there's much more talk on other topics that are going on.

Q. How is your mood compared to 12 months ago?

RK: It's very similar. In the end, today has been a bad day but the situation is different. Last year, we were waiting in the garage to do one run in Q1 and Q2 – it was easy. Now the situation is different. The pack is much closer together, our car is not performing as we thought it would, it's not performing on the same level as last year in the early stage of the season. We are struggling – you see many teams struggling not only us. The pack is very tight and there are many cars that are really quick – some teams have brought some aero updates and improvements here so it is getting worse for us.

Q. Has the team told you what is coming for Bahrain?

RK: I don't know. You will have to ask the team.

Q. Do you expect a big package?

RK: Probably, yes. I hope so. But it has to be really big if we want to be at the top because the gap is quite big.