A driver’s first win in F1 is always a momentous occasion as all their efforts in trying to get the pinnacle of motorsport get vindicated.
You will get drivers that go through their career having never won a race, let alone stood on the podium, while some get to achieve the simple feat of scoring points.
It goes to show just how difficult achieving results can be in F1, especially when the same faces are constantly filling out the top three spots.
Robert Kubica was always a driver often thought about as being good enough to win a title, but never quite had the machinery to achieve the feat. He started off his career as a test driver for BMW, before making his debut at the 2006 Hungarian GP midway through the season replacing Jacques Villeneuve.
His first race ended in disaster when his BMW was disqualified for being 2kg under weight, but in another two races he would finally realise a dream and one he called the ‘most beautiful’ race when speaking to Motorsport.it.
Robert Kubica picks 2006 Italian Grand Prix as best F1 moment
A first podium can be the initial step towards a win and a driver who achieved such a feat during the 2006 Italian Grand Prix was Kubica.
BMW was competitive for the first time in 2006 owing to its developments throughout the season, which even included a McLaren-style flexible rear wing.
Kubica immediately made an impression by earning his first podium just three races into his career, sharing it with Ferrari driver Michael Schumacher and describing the moment as one of the best in his career.
“It is one of those beautiful and magical weekends. Perhaps the most beautiful because it was completely unexpected,” said Kubica.
The highs and lows of Robert Kubica’s F1 career
Kubica perhaps never reached his full potential in F1, despite coming close during the latter stages in his career at BMW.
The team, which was run by Sauber, came close to challenging for the 2008 title with Lewis Hamilton and Kimi Raikkonen after Kubica won the Candian GP that year, just 12 months on from his massive crash at the same circuit.
Kubica led the championship at one stage, but BMW instead decided it wanted to switch focus to the big regulation reset in 2009 when it felt it had an advantage over the rest of the pack.
A lack of results in 2009 coupled with the global financial crisis led to the team dropping out by 2010, and Kubica switched to Renault. A strong debut season with the team was curtailed by a serious rally crash in 2011, effectively putting a temporary end to Kubica’s F1 career.
Kubica made a remarkable return in 2018 for one season with Williams, before deciding to hang up his helmet in F1 at the end of 2019 having spent the year as a test and reserve driver for Alfa Romeo.
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