The looks on the faces of the mechanics said it all, while some shook their heads others merely stared blankly at the TV monitors, aware of the task ahead.

Robert Kubica had crashed heavily in the opening phase of qualifying, and while this wouldn't normally be an issue, this was, so-called, Super Sunday, with the race just over three hours away.

Nonetheless, his crew built a new car in time for the Pole to start the race, albeit from the pitlane.

However, while full of praise for his crew, Kubica was clearly unhappy with the decision not to run him with the new front wing trialled on Friday, initially by George Russell in FP1 and then the Pole in FP2.

Of the belief that he would use the wing in the race, Kubica claims the team has "crossed boundaries", his comment coming in the wake of sponsor, Orlen, querying the decision to retire the Pole from the Russian Grand Prix.

"Friday was very good," he told Polish television. "The first time for a very long time.

"We changed the front wing," he continued. "It wasn't supposed to be better and on the second car it did not give any advantage or was even worse. But my car felt a lot better. However, for strange reasons, the wing was taken from my car this morning before qualifying.

"I think there was just too much time to think about it on Saturday," he added. "The typhoon passed, but I think the decision was not related to the track here, but more so to other reasons or choices.

"This morning, however, gave me a lot to think about. I knew some things, but this morning some boundaries were probably crossed."

"As always, we discuss the most effective strategy ahead of each race weekend," said Williams, according to Motorsport.com, "but make adjustments where necessary. Our new front wing was always intended as a test item for this event, with a view to running in a race at a future date.

"With the potential impact of Typhoon Hagibis forcing the cancellation of all running on Saturday, combined with the inclement wind conditions today, the team made the decision not to risk running the new front wing today and potentially suffering damage before we had conducted further testing in Mexico.

"Given the incidents in qualifying, this proved to be the correct decision."

"I was hoping after the really disappointing Russia we would be here trying to do our best and this is what we tried to do on Friday," said Kubica. "Actually on Friday I ended up with quite good feelings but my feelings were probably too good.

"Conditions were different but on Friday something happened which gave me quite a lot of confidence and improved my feeling in the car. We agreed on something and then on Sunday morning things changed for whatever reason. I think it was not a decision of people who are here.

"I don't want to go into the details too much but after Russia where we were disappointed overall when you have a driver who says 'for the first time for a very long time I can drive the car properly and I'm actually properly exploring the car', this is what every team would look to have.

"But for whatever reason..."

The Pole, who has already announced his decision not to continue with Williams after this season, pointed out that he has just four more races, comprising twenty 'sessions', in the car.

"Twenty sessions left until the end of the year," he said. "Let's hope that some things will be solved, although as I say, this morning just before qualifying allowed me to understand a lot."

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READERS COMMENTS

1. Posted by F1 Yank, 14/10/2019 15:51

"Yeah, time to move on Robert.
"

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2. Posted by Anthony, 14/10/2019 13:01

"Robert has been very disappointing this season. Williams would be the first to admit that the car has been bad but the fact remains that George has been better than Robert all season. Robert should be grateful that he was given another chance in F1 rather than whinging...."

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3. Posted by GordonG47, 14/10/2019 12:53

"If he's going to continue to whinge and whine and be a conspiracy theorist, why doesn't he just walk away now (please!) and let the reserve driver finish the season?

Never rated him as a driver, even before his accident."

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4. Posted by hussainahm, 14/10/2019 11:54

"What a whiner he's turning out to be. He's almost always last, has already said that's he's not fit enough for F1, yet he keeps bashing his team."

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Kubica's frustration with Williams continues

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