Robert Kubica established himself as one of F1’s top talents in the late 2000s. Unfortunately, the 40-year-old never reached his full potential.
Kubica was handed his first test in F1 machinery with Renault at the end of 2005. The outing was a reward for winning the Formula Renault 3.5 Series which left Kubica feeling Renault were forced to test him as they did not invite him personally.
The 40-year-old became F1’s first and only Polish F1 driver when he replaced Jacques Villeneuve at BMW at the end of 2006. He scored his first podium in his third race at Monza.
Landing a full-time seat the following season, the Pole finished sixth in the standings with consistent points finishes. Kubica made an ‘impossible’ recovery after a violent crash at the Canadian Grand Prix that year
Kubica grabbed his only win in F1 at Montreal a year later on his way to his best career finish of fourth in the championship in 2008.
While that was his best result in the standings on paper, for the 40-year-old, 2008 is not the season as regards the highest.
Robert Kubica surprised everyone with his best F1 season with Renault in 2010
After BMW regressed in form following the revolutionary regulation change in 2009, Kubica joined Renault in 2010 alongside Vitaly Petrov. The Enstone-based team also struggled with the regulation change in 2009 as they finished eighth in the constructors’ championship.
But Renault and Kubica turned things around the following year as they climbed to fifth in the standings while the Pole finished eighth in the drivers’ championship with three podiums.
Speaking with the Motorsport.com Italia YouTube channel, Kubica says 2010 was ‘definitely’ his best season. He explained that everyone – including himself – were surprised by Renault’s turnaround after a ‘dark year’ in 2009.
“I sincerely don’t think it was underestimated. I think that, definitely it was my best season as a driver”, he said.
“I think that few know the contribution that I gave and in my opinion, it was a great year but beyond a great year.
“It was a surprise not only for me, not only for probably many fans but it was also a surprise for those who work there.
“And this is the thing that gives value to what I said, the contribution, because Renault, the truth that came from the dark year before.
“There was Fernando with Grosjean and I remember images that they started [on the] last row”.
Lewis Hamilton regarded Robert Kubica as one of his ‘most talented’ competitors
Kubica left F1 at the end of the 2010 season to pursue a career in rallying. The following year, he suffered a serious crash that almost ended his racing career entirely.
The Pole made a dramatic recovery and after a few more years in rallying, he made his return to F1 in 2019 with Williams. Kubica’s comeback only yielded one point as the Grove-based outfit languished at the back.
The 40-year-old served as Alfa Romeo’s reserve driver (now Sauber) from 2020 to 2022, making two sub appearances for Kimi Raikkonen in 2021 after the Finn contracted COVID-19.
Kubica is one of few drivers from Lewis Hamilton’s first podium still active in racing, competing in the World Endurance Championship with Ferrari’s satellite team AF Corse.
Hamilton regarded Kubica as one of his ‘most talented’ competitors as the two fought closely in their McLaren and BMW days.
