Robert Kubica, a Polish F1 driver, had several stints in F1. He made his debut in the 2006 season and secured his maiden win during the 2008 Canadian Grand Prix. His most recent appearance in Formula One was at the 2021 Italian Grand Prix.
| Nationality | Polish |
| Born | Robert Józef Kubica 7 December 1984 Kraków, Poland |
|---|
Kubica is known for being the first Polish driver to compete in and win a Formula One race. His Formula One journey began with the BMW Sauber F1 team, where he filled the role of a test driver before being promoted to a full-time seat for the 2006 season. In a career highlight, he claimed his first and only Formula 1 win at the Canadian Grand Prix in June 2008. During that season, he even led the championship at one point, ultimately finishing fourth overall—the best position of his career.
In 2010, Kubica joined the Renault team and planned to continue with them in 2011. At the same time, he had also signed a pre-contract with Ferrari to join them for the 2012 season. A move that came to a tragic end when he suffered a horrific rally crash during the winter break on February 6, before the 2011 season began. The life-altering accident at the Ronde di Andora Rally, resulted in his right forearm being partially severed. Despite this setback, he remained determined to return to Formula 1, a feeling that he expressed in an interview from his hospital bed with the Italian newspaper La Gazzetta dello Sport. However, his road to recovery was challenging, and initially, he believed a return to Formula One was nearly impossible due to his injury. Nevertheless, his persistence led to test drives with Renault and Williams, and he kept the possibility of a Formula 1 comeback alive.
Kubica made a remarkable return to racing in September 2012, winning a minor rally in Italy. His comeback at the event earned him recognition as one of “The Men of the Year 2012” by Top Gear magazine. In 2013, he shifted to rally driving full-time, racing in the European and World Rally-2 Championships with Citroën. He clinched the inaugural WRC-2 title and, in 2014, moved to the full-time WRC championship, driving a Ford Fiesta RS WRC prepared by M-Sport.
In 2018, Kubica took on the role of reserve driver for Williams, and in 2019, he made a return to the F1 grid with a full-time seat for the team. However, after the 2019 season, it was clear Kubica had found it hard to transition to the sport after his injury and was sadly dropped by the team. He moved to the Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters i 2019 while maintaining his connection to Formula One as a reserve and test driver for Alfa Romeo. He took part in various practice sessions and even replaced Kimi Räikkönen in the Dutch and Italian Grand Prix in 2021.
In 2022, Robert Kubica continued as a reserve and test driver for Alfa Romeo and throughout the season, he took part in free practice sessions for several Grand Prix events, including the Spanish, French, Hungarian, and Abu Dhabi Grand Prix weekends.
In 2024, he competed for the Ferrari AF Corse team in the FIA World Endurance Championship, finally moving to a Ferrari-powered car. His career has seen further wins outside of F1, including winning the 2023 FIA World Endurance Championship in the LMP2 class with Team WRT.
Robert Kubica Formula One World Championship career
| F1 Career | 2006–2010, 2019, 2021 |
|---|---|
| Teams | Sauber, Renault, Williams, Alfa Romeo |
| Entries | 99 (99 starts) |
| Championships | 0 |
| Wins | 1 |
| Podiums | 12 |
| Career points | 274 |
| Pole positions | 1 |
| Fastest laps | 1 |
| First entry | 2006 Hungarian Grand Prix |
| First win | 2008 Canadian Grand Prix |
| Last win | 2008 Canadian Grand Prix |
| Last entry | 2021 Italian Grand Prix |
