• Renault news

Kubica wary of the chasing pack

Robet Kubica: "The teams behind us are very close" © Sutton Images

Enlarge

Related Links

• Race:
• Hungarian Grand Prix

• Championship:
• FIA Formula One World Championship

• Drivers:
• Robert Kubica
• |
• Vitaly Petrov

• Teams:
• Renault

Robert Kubica has admitted Renault is coming under pressure from other midfield teams and has dropped off the pace of the front runners over the last few races.

Kubica scored two podiums earlier this season but at the last two grands prix has recorded a retirement and a seventh place finish. The car has fallen off the pace of Red Bull, Ferrari and McLaren as the top teams have upped their development, and Renault is now finding it tougher to stay ahead of the chasing pack.

"I think we achieved the limit of our car and we were 'best of the rest' in Hockenheim, but we know that there is a big gap to the fastest teams at the moment - and also that the teams behind us are very close," Kubica said. "This means that we have to get everything perfect across the race weekend to qualify in the top ten, and finish in the points."

This weekend's Hungarian Grand Prix will be held on the tight and twisty Hungaroring, where the required set-up is often compared to Monaco. One of Kubica's best drives this season was on the streets of Monte Carlo but he is not expecting a repeat.

"I think it will be a more suitable track for our car and I hope we can be closer to the front than we were in Germany," he said. "But I honestly don't think we can hope to repeat the kind of pace we showed in Monaco earlier this season."

Renault team-mate Vitaly Petrov is now targeting Kubica's pace in qualifying after a much improved performance at the German Grand Prix.

"I need to work on improving my qualifying performance to make sure I start the race in a good position," he said "If I can do this, I think I can have a strong race because in Germany the pace of the car was good. In fact, Germany was nearly a mistake-free weekend, except for qualifying.

"Robert has shown what the car can do in qualifying, so I know this is where I can improve. I will work hard to put all the pieces together across the weekend and my target is to finish in the top ten and score some more points."

© ESPN Sports Media Ltd.