Following days of media speculation, Grand Prix winner Robert Kubica took to the Valencia track today in what has been described as a private test.

The Pole, whose F1 career was brought to a shock end when he crashed in a rally in Italy ahead of the 2011 season, has made no secret of his desire to return to the grid, and while he enjoyed a successful foray in the WRC, such a return never seemed possible.

However, as the 2008 Canadian Grand Prix winner pounded the Ricardo Tormo track today, Renault, which organised the test, added to the mystery surrounding the outing.

"So guys... we need to come clean about something..." read the first in a series of Tweets from the French team. "It's true. It really is Robert Kubica. Back in one of our cars after six years.

"So why did we keep it quiet? It was a private test, for Robert," the Tweets continued. "But we can tell you this... Robert complained about grip, understeer, downforce and had the biggest smile on after his 115 laps!!"

At the time of his 2011 crash, which came days after he had topped the timesheets in pre-season testing, Kubica was rightly considered one of the sport's brightest stars, a driver's driver, a racer the likes of Fernando Alonso looked up to.

Quite why Kubica took part in the test, which saw him at the wheel of the 2012 Lotus E20, is unclear, and despite speculation in some quarter it is highly unlikely that the 32-year-old could make a return to the sport.

The test comes days ahead of the Canadian Grand Prix, which the Pole won in 2008, and which followed his horrific accident at the same circuit just twelve months earlier.

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READERS COMMENTS

1. Posted by Motorsport-fan, 07/06/2017 9:17

"Would have been nice if more detail had been released, has the car been modified in any way, any lap times for comparison, as said previous 115 laps is a serious run out, if something did come from this and Robert returns to F1, what a story."

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2. Posted by NS Biker, 07/06/2017 6:54

"Teams don't take on drivers based on what they have done, but on what the may (hopefully ... will) do in the future. Of course there are exception$.
I get a sniff that there will be a BIG shake-up in drivers for next year and it looks like Renault is looking for who has potential and who they can get.
For Kubica to do 115 laps, says this was not a gift or feel-nice exercise. This is serious time and $$$.
I would love to see him back in F1 and I hope he can pull it off. We need more characters in F1. Lewis can't do it all himself."

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3. Posted by Paul C, 07/06/2017 4:32

"A number of teams could use a fully recovered and ready to race Kubica. Even the traffic barrel orange McLarens could use Kubica to replace Alonso to let him transfer over to Indy Cars."

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4. Posted by hussainahm, 06/06/2017 23:30

"They need a replacement for Palmer."

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5. Posted by habentsen, 06/06/2017 21:37

"Maybe he's eyeing Lance Trolls seat?"

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6. Posted by Yeyox02, 06/06/2017 20:26

"I really hope to see Robert Kubica returning to F1 because he is an excellent driver and a serious person."

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Kubica back in F1 action

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