Kubica: No Bahrain podium for Renault

Robert Kubica has conceded that Renault will not be heading to Bahrain with podium finishes on the agenda.

Although Renault's pre-season tests have seen a solid performance from the team, the R30 doesn't appear to have the pace needed to match the likes of Ferrari and Red Bull.

In fact, although it's near to impossible to judge based on lap times alone, the team probably also falls behind McLaren and Mercedes GP in the pecking.

As such, Kubica says podiums won't be on the cards at the season-opening Bahrain GP but that doesn't mean they won't come sooner rather than later.

"We will try to be in the position to fight for the top, but I think it could be difficult to achieve, especially at the beginning of the year," Kubica told Autosport.

"We hope for a good start, we hope to be competitive straight away. Of course we have to be realistic, so we will not go to Bahrain to fight for the podium, that's for sure.

"But maybe we will have a nice surprise here on Sunday and then in Bahrain with the new upgrades and we will be able to fight for it."

Renault are set to introduce new aerodynamic parts on the fourth and final day at Barcelona, which takes place on Sunday, a move that Kubica fully supporters even though Sunday also marks the very last day of pre-season testing.

"We were waiting very long because every week there were some new bits that were looking very promising in the windtunnel, so the team decided to wait very long in order to be able to bring to Bahrain as much improvement as we can, and to manufacture something for Barcelona," he said.

"Then we discovered last week that by changing something it would give us an advantage, and I think that's the right approach and there will be no problems in Bahrain.

"It's risky, but I think the team feels quite confident that the correlation between the windtunnel and on the track is very good, so I have no reason to not believe it."

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