The technicians who took the BMW for maintenance explained that the wear caused by Kubica was equivalent to more than 200 laps made by a conventional driver.
Many people are reluctant to lend their cars for fear of being returned. Now imagine what would happen if the driver were a professional Formula 1 driver who is going to drive on a race track. That is exactly what a series of videos recently published on Misha Charoudin’s YouTube channel shows.
In them, the Polish driver Robert Kubica arrives at a rental agency near the popular Nürburgring circuit in Germany, where he opted for a BMW M4 which he then drove down the track, full of curves and slopes, as if he were on board a racing vehicle. During the test, the experienced driver accelerates and squeezes the maximum power out of the car, passing other vehicles.
Although the car rental agencies in the area are already used to dealing with the wear and tear of the parts and carry out regular maintenance work in their workshops, it is not usual for a Formula 1 professional to rent their vehicles.
At the end of the 36-lap (756 km) test, the car’s exhaust was burning red hot and apparently melted a part of the rear bumper.
The technicians who took the BMW for maintenance explained that the wear caused by Kubica was equivalent to more than 200 laps made by a conventional driver.
One example of how the driving style influenced wear is that the vehicle’s tires had to be changed for new wheels only halfway through the journey when it had been around 20 laps. Typically they last twice as long.
Although the engine was still in perfect condition, the mechanics also had to replace the car’s brakes and bearings. A curious fact is that the brake pads did not completely disintegrate thanks to the fact that they lacked the active traction control that is often used for sports driving.
