Kubica's earlier confirmation at Renault may have been premature

Robert Kubica’s management has asked for clarity of the Renault-Genii deal to assess the Pole’s position for 2010.

This could mean that Kubica is interested in shopping around if the deal isn’t to his liking. The clauses of his contract are unknown but with this deal there may be a loophole which allows him to leave.

If Kubica isn’t satisfied with Renault’s plans then he is fast running out of options. It’s early to call just where each team will be in terms of performance but the only team likely to be ahead of Renault and with a free seat is Mercedes GP.
Mercedes however, are allowing the Schumacher rumours to get very strong. There is still a lot to overcome to sign Michael as he hasn’t yet asked to be released by Ferrari but these rumours just refuse to go away.

Also waiting in the wings for the seat is Robert’s former BMW-Sauber teammate Nick Heidfeld. Heidfeld has beaten Kubica in 2007 and 2009 but for whatever reason it is Kubica who is the more highly rated. Mercedes seem to want two German drivers but if he does come on the market he will be hard to resist.

The new teams would be a big step down but ideally it would only be for a year. Massa’s and Webber’s contracts are up at the end of next season so he could fight for one of those seats (he is friends with Alonso and was approached by the Italian squad to stand in for Felipe Massa after his accident so Kubica could work well at Ferrari).

However, if only a year-long deal is wanted then Robert would be wise to stay where he is. Renault has a good team of people; they know how to win despite the slump of recent years and would greatly benefit from having him as team leader.

Kubica’s management has said they will at least need a few days to consider what has happened but with the silly season jigsaw beginning to slip into place they could run out of time.