Lance Stroll could join Force India in time for next weekend’s Italian Grand Prix, allowing Robert Kubica to make his long-awaited return to F1 with Williams, RaceFans has learned.

Stroll is believed to have scheduled a seat fitting at the Force India factory on Tuesday. The 19-year-old is expected to take the place of Esteban Ocon at the team which was purchased by a consortium led by his father Lawrence Stroll during the summer break.

Ocon is set to be left without a drive as Kubica’s contract with Williams is understood to give him precedence over other options for the seat if either of Williams’s regular drivers are unable to take part in a race.

Kubica made his last F1 start in 2010 before being seriously injured in a rally crash in February 2011. He was under consideration for a place at Williams this year before the team opted to sign Sergey Sirotkin.

Question marks remarks remain over whether Kubica’s recovery from his injuries will place any limits on his ability to perform over a full race distance. A return to action at Monza, one of the less strenuous venues on the calendar, would give the team an opportunity to assess his ability to race at more demanding venues, such as the following race in Singapore.

Force India did not provide a comment when approached by RaceFans.

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Sergio Perez, who Stroll is expected to partner at Force India, said on Thursday the Williams driver has raised his game since arriving in F1 last year.

“I think it’s so hard to know someone as a driver when you are not being alongside him,” said Perez. “There is so much difference in Formula 1 across teams performance, between cars you see difference of two-and-a-half seconds or so. So it’s very hard to judge a driver.

“I think he did not too bad alongside Felipe [Massa] who I think is a very experienced driver. Right now Williams is in a very difficult position so it’s very hard to judge.

“I think he’s grown up, he has good experience now with two years at Williams, we’ll see what he’s able to do in that regard. It’s very hard to judge someone when they’re not your team mate.”

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2018 F1 season