Pole Position

Apologies for the awful pun as the title (you'll see what I mean) - it's been a long day.

Robert Kubica, Formula 1's first Polish driver, will join the Renault team for 2010. This brings both good and bad news.

The good news first: This has confirmed that Renault will not be pulling out of F1 at the end of the season which had begun to look almost inevitable after the Singapore-gate. After Honda pulled out at the end of last year and with BMW now following suit, there was a real danger that F1 could have gone the same way as the BTCC did at the end of the 90s when the manufacturers pulled out en masse leaving a weakened series. That now appears to have been averted and hopefully both Renault and Toyota (the other team most likely to leave) will remain commited to the series for a few more years yet.

The bad news however is that, in my opinion, Kubica will have to endure another season where the pace of his car will not match his considerable ability. I just cannot see Renault suddenly turning their car into a potential race winner over the winter. If they couldn't do it with Alonso onboard - ableit an admittedly demotivated Alonso - then I can't see Kubica faring any better.

Kubica was my driver of the year in 2008 and I felt that there had been a real injustice in BMW's decision not to continue developing the car towards the back end of that season so as to be able to concentrate on the 2009 car. A decision made even more painful in hindsight given BMW's woeful display this year. As seen with the career of Jenson Button, in F1 you are only as good as your last race and it's a shame that Kubica has not landed a seat at Ferrari, Red Bull, Brawn or Mclaren - the teams that I believe will be challenging for the honours next year.