A determined Robert Kubica says his F1 return at pre-season testing with Williams has given him extra motivation to secure a full-time race seat.
Seven years after suffering career-changing injuries in a rally crash, Kubica provided the feel-good story of the winter break as he sought, and eventually achieved, a remarkable F1 comeback. The Pole was named Williams' third driver, and shared testing duties with Lance Stroll and Sergey Sirotkin in Barcelona.
Kubica was impressive and consistent in the FW44, and told Sky Sports that he was still "targeting quite high goals" following the two-week test.
"From one side, I'm happy to be testing and I'm happy that I have an opportunity thanks to Williams to be a part of the team and to have an opportunity to drive the car," the Pole explained to Sky Sports News' Craig Slater.
"But once you are there, for sure it would be nice to have a chance.
"I have to concentrate on my job, which I am doing. What the future will bring, I do not know. If you re-look at the last 12 months of my life, I think I can be really happy with what I have achieved."
But that is not to say Kubica won't be fully committed in his role to assist the team's young driver line-up as much as possible.
The upcoming season will be his first as a reserve driver since 2005 but the 33-year-old is eager and enthusiastic, looking forward to his race weekend practice sessions - with his first set for the Spanish GP in May.
"I am enjoying my position," Kubica told reporters. "It is giving me quite a lot of challenges and opportunities to see a different point of view from many things. It will be an interesting year.
"l have to work and be committed as much as l can, and whatever is asked of me by the team l will do because it is a job l committed to. If l have a chance to drive, or a chance to come closer to a race seat, l will be more prepared than l as a couple of months ago. Every day l can learn something."
Kubica finished the pre-season test, his second outing with Williams after an end-of-2017 drive in Abu Dhabi, as the team's second-fastest driver but added: "Honestly I don't care about lap times.
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"It doesn't really matter. I think I have to be satisfied from my point of view. I drove in Abu Dhabi, jumped in the car in Barcelona in difficult conditions and drove pretty well.
"I put much more priority on how I read the car and the treatment of the car than lap times."