Robert Kubica is quietly confident that he could be the dark horse for this weekend’s Monaco Grand Prix.
The Renault driver was sixth in both of yesterday’s practice sessions and was consistently quick on both tyre compounds.
With this, the Polish driver is in a relaxed mood about the weekend ahead.
“The car felt good in practice and there were no real big surprises,” he told Autosport. “There are a couple of things to be improved, but we have a lot of time here on Friday to work on them and find a solution.
“Everything can happen, especially here in Monaco, but also normally things can change very quickly.
“We hope to improve the car, to improve the balance, but the track changes very quickly. So you have to somehow get the right balance in the right moment, and this is not easy.
“So we will have to watch out how the track evolution is and try to anticipate changes for qualifying.”
He added: “My confidence was good from the first session. Normally I think I don’t miss confidence, especially when it comes to driving on the street circuits.
“But things can change very quickly in Monaco, so we have to watch out and try to put the car in the best window in the right moment – which will be qualifying.”
Kubica has also downplayed concerns that the first segment of qualifying could hamper his bid to claim a strong grid slot for the Grand Prix.
“In Monaco it (traffic) is quite tricky,” he said .”But to be honest it was not too bad in practice.
“I believe for the guys who are driving the new cars it is not easy to keep the cars on the track and additionally moving out of the way where the track is narrow is not easy for them – just as it is not easy for us. But we shouldn’t do too much talk about it – it is how it is.”
