One of the first rules you learn when getting into motorsport is not to read too much into testing times. Different fuel loads and different conditions make it almost impossible for those who don’t own drivers’ telemetry. However, Robert Kubica’s behaviour, during the two-day tyre test at Abu Dhabi, gives us plenty to talk about.

FITNESS

The ultimate reason to test Kubica was to evaluate his resistance. As a precaution, Williams modified the final part of his headrest: they opened a bigger gap exactly where his right hand (the formerly injured one) sits.

Yesterday, Kubica run for 100 laps—despite an early puncture—while today he drove for only 28 laps, as he took over from Sirotkin in the afternoon.

While he has multiple times explained that he feels in a better shape than in 2011, on Tuesday, Kubica added: There is someone saying I'm driving one-handed. I'm not driving one-handed," he said. I think it's impossible to drive a Formula 1 car with one hand. But I have some limitations so in some way my body used some compensations, which is not wrong. We are human beings and our brains are used to help our bodies overcome disabilities. This is normal daily life. This is something I think I'm on top of.

Williams has no more doubt that he is ready to race!

SPEED

Paddy Lowe said to racer.com that Kubica got up to speed “quite quickly.” However, he explained that as the Pole isn’t super-human, the task took a bit and he’s not probably even there: As we know from the race weekend, the tires are very difficult to bring in to temperature. Especially the harder ones you're starting the program with, as naturally you'd do, starting from the harder end. So it's actually quite a difficult process to really hit it on the out lap and be ready for turn one. I think he did a good job considering those challenges.

If you love numbers, this bit is for you: Kubica’s best lap today was 1’38”485. Yesterday, Lance Stroll was 0”095 slower than his (possibly) future teammate. Same compound. Same setup. Going even further, Massa’s gap to Vettel in Q3 on Saturday and Kubica’s gap to Vettel as well today was within one tenth of a second.

Overall, Robert Kubica was the fastest Williams driver of the tests.

There’s just one huge unknown. Sergei Sirotkin’s best time was on Soft tyres, while Kubica, just four tenths faster, was on HyperSofts. Even though Hamilton has praised the new Pirelli compound, the pink tyres looked not as efficient as the purples. Still, the occurrence raises some questions:

• Were Kubica and Sirotkin on the same fuel loads?
• Has Kubica yet to adapt on the softest tyres?
• Is anyone a better choice than Massa and Stroll?

Sirotkin’s day was sensational. There’s no doubt about it. But you have to remember that until a few months ago, Paul di Resta was in contention for that seat too. By Williams’s admission, the Scot has constantly beaten the regular drivers on the simulator. Moreover, rumors have it di Resta beat Kubica in the Hungaroring test session, too.

In the end, speed alone doesn’t matter. Kubica has more determination than his rivals combined. He brings passion to Grove and the strong leadership the team needs.

RACE PACE

Conditions between the race and the test sessions were different. Let us remind that. That was obvious when yesterday Kubica clocked in 1’43 and 1’44 with high fuel load. Today, at about the same time the green lights went off at the Abu Dhabi GP, Kubica begun his race simulation on a high 45, and after four laps he settled into mid-low 44s.

For comparisons, Felipe Massa took 21 laps on Sunday to eventually run below the 1’45 barrier. Lance Stroll 31 laps.

After Kubica has ended his job, his mechanics erupted in a round of applause. It only means one thing: he has passed the test.