Robert Kubica would rather start in 11th than his qualifying position of eighth, as the Pole fears the dirty-side of the grid will cost him places.
With the lack of support races and the low-grip levels, the dirty-side of the grid is expected to be extremely slippery, giving the drivers who qualified on even numbers a massive disadvantage into turn one.
“I think P8 is like P11 almost,” said the Renault driver. “This morning there were more than 20 metres difference [during the practice starts], so it is really a lot.
“People who start on the left hand side, unless it is raining, they will have a big disadvantage and unfortunately I am starting on the dirty side.”
Kubica believes the disadvantage to be so great that he’d rather start in 11th, three places down the order from where he qualified.
“If someone asks me, I think I would prefer to start P11 than P8. I would have better chances for overtaking into Turn 1, but that is how it is and we have to make sure that we lose as little as possible because definitely we will lose a lot of ground.”
