Robert Kubica

Robert Kubica

Nation:	Poland
Formula 1 world championship
Start number :	88
First start:	Hungarian Grand Prix 2006
Last start:	Abu Dhabi Grand Prix 2019
Constructors
2006–2009  BMW Sauber  • 2010  Renault  • 2019  Williams
statistics
World Cup balance:	World Cup fourth ( 2008 )
Starts Victories Poles SR 97 1 1 1
World Cup points :	274
Podiums :	12
Leadership laps :	73 over 330.9 km
Status: end of season 2019

Robert Józef Kubica [ ˈrɔbɛrt kuˈbit͡sa ] (born December 7, 1984 in Krakow , Poland ) is a Polish automobile racing driver . From 2006 to 2010 he started as the first Pole in Formula 1 and was under contract with BMW Sauber from 2006 to 2009 and with the Renault team in 2010 . Due to a serious rally accident in February 2011 during the preparation phase for the 2011 Formula 1 World Championship , Kubica was injured. In 2018 he was signed by Williams as a development driver , and in 2019 he became a regular driver. In the 2020 season , Kubica is under contract with Alfa Romeo-Sauber as a test driver.

Career

Beginnings in motorsport

After several years in which Kubica in karting was active mainly in Italy, he went in 2001 to the single-seater racing and took on 2.0 Eurocup Formula Renault part. After placing 14th overall, he improved to seventh overall in 2002. It was more successful for him in the Italian Formula Renault , in which he also competed in both years. After 13th place in 2001, he won the 2002 runner-up in the series behind José María López .

In 2003 Kubica switched to the newly founded Formula 3 Euro Series for the Prema Powerteam . After a traffic accident, he initially fell out with an arm injury. 18 titanium screws were used to treat him. Kubica did not enter the championship until the fourth race weekend. He succeeded in winning his first race at the Norisring . At the end of the season he finished twelfth overall. In 2004 Kubica stayed in the Formula 3 Euro Series. He switched to Mücke Motorsport and became a team-mate of Bruno Spengler . Kubica did not win a race, but had his team-mates under control and finished seventh overall at the end of the season. He also finished second behind Alexandre Prémat in the prestigious Macau Grand Prix in 2004 .

In 2005 Kubica switched to Formula Renault 3.5 to Epsilon Euskadi . With four wins and a further seven podium finishes, he won the championship title ahead of Adrián Vallés and Markus Winkelhock . He also started again at the Macau Grand Prix, in which he took second place again in front of Sebastian Vettel , who was third. This time he had to admit defeat to Lucas di Grassi .

formula 1

BMW Sauber (2006-2009)

On December 1, 2005, Kubica completed his first Formula 1 test at the wheel of a Formula 1 car from the Renault team in Barcelona . Since the French racing team already had a test driver under contract with Franck Montagny for 2006, Kubica initially became a test driver at BMW Sauber .

2006

Kubica made his first appearance as a test driver at the season opener on March 10, 2006 in the first Friday practice session for the Bahrain Grand Prix , in which he immediately set the fastest time. Since then, Kubica has been used as the third driver in all Friday training sessions.

After Jacques Villeneuve , who was initially a regular driver at BMW Sauber, did not convince in the course of the 2006 season and his performance fell sharply compared to his teammate Nick Heidfeld , Kubica took over the cockpit of Villeneuve, his Formula 1 career, at the Hungarian Grand Prix that ended. Despite rain and a spin including the tearing off of the front wing, he finished in seventh place. However, since his car was two kilograms too light, he was subsequently disqualified. Wilhelm Rampf , Technical Director of BMW Sauber, blames the heavy tire wear for the underweight.

In his third Formula 1 race, the Italian Grand Prix in Monza , Kubica finished third, making it the first Pole ever to achieve the podium at a Formula 1 Grand Prix. This was also only the second podium for BMW Sauber in the season. At the time, Kubica was the second youngest driver to ever achieve a podium after the Spaniard Fernando Alonso . At the end of the season, in which he finished 16th in the drivers' championship with six points, Kubica received a contract with BMW Sauber until the end of the 2008 season.

2007

After Kubica had scored three points in the first five races of the 2007 season with a fourth place as the best result, he had a serious accident at the Canadian Grand Prix . He crashed into a wall at around 230 km / h after his car had been levered out by Jarno Trulli after a collision with the Toyota and Kubica could no longer brake. His car was thrown back from the wall, overturned and hit a guardrail on the opposite side of the road before it came to a standstill lying on its side, completely destroyed. In the accident, the measured G-load on his body was 75 times higher than his own body weight. Kubica remained motionless in the wreck. After his rescue, he was first taken to the medical center and from there by helicopter to a nearby hospital. Kubica was able to leave the hospital less than 24 hours after the accident. All he had suffered was a bruise, a slight concussion and a sprained foot. Kubica immediately announced that he would drive a week later in Indianapolis in the following race , but this was forbidden by the chief physician of the FIA , Gary Hartstein , with the advice that the risk of another accident and the resulting worse injuries must be avoided. Sebastian Vettel then represented him at the US Grand Prix .

In his first race after the break, the French Grand Prix in Magny-Cours , he finished fourth with almost ten seconds ahead of his team-mate Heidfeld. Another fourth place followed in the further course of the season. Kubica, who had not achieved a podium position this season, was defeated by Heidfeld this season with 39 to 61 points and ended the season in sixth place in the drivers' standings.

2008

First and only victory at the 2008 Canadian Grand Prix

As in 2007, Kubica started the 2008 season with a failure. In the races that followed, he achieved two podium positions and achieved his first pole position at the Bahrain Grand Prix , which was also the first time in practice for BMW Sauber. For a long time Kubica had a chance of winning on the demanding street circuit of Monte Carlo and finally finished second. Less than a year after his serious accident, Kubica won his first Grand Prix in Montréal , which was also the first victory for BMW Sauber. Since Heidfeld had finished second, it was also the first double victory for the racing team. For the first time, Kubica took the overall lead in the world championship after the race. In the further course of the season, Kubica regularly collected points and was on the podium three times. However, he was unable to keep up with Lewis Hamilton and Felipe Massa and was passed through to third place in the drivers' championship. Due to constant performance, however, he still had the opportunity to win the title until two races before the end of the season. In the last race , Kimi Raikkonen overtook him in the drivers' standings. As a result, Kubica finished fourth overall with 75 points, tied with Raikkonen. Because he only had one win, but the Ferrari driver two, that was the decisive factor in the end to his disadvantage.

Because of this achievement, Kubica was voted Polish Sportsman of the Year in 2008 in a joint vote between the readers of the sports newspaper Przegląd Sportowy and the viewers of TVP .

2009

In the 2009 season , Kubica stayed with BMW Sauber, who wanted to fight for the world championship title this season. However, it was clear from the very first race that the teams at the top were inferior. The development of KERS , an energy recovery system, did not bring the hoped-for leap forward, but rather led to the neglect of other areas of vehicle development. At the Australian Grand Prix , Kubica was in third place with a good strategy and tried to overtake Vettel. Both drivers collided shortly before the end and had to end the race. Kubica waited for the first points until the Turkish Grand Prix . After the Hungarian Grand Prix , BMW announced its withdrawal at the end of the season. Kubica then scored points in four other races. Most successful was his race in Brazil , where he finished second. In the drivers' world championship, Kubica finished 14th with 17 points, while Heidfeld was 13th with their 19th place.

Renault (2010-2011, 2017)

Kubica in a Renault at the 2010 Malaysian Grand Prix

2010

Kubica switched to Renault F1 in the 2010 season . His team mate was the Russian Vitaly Petrow , with whom he formed the first Formula 1 driver duo from the former Eastern Bloc countries. With a second place in Australia he achieved the first podium finish for his new team in the second race of the season. Further placements on the podium followed at the prestigious Monaco Grand Prix and the Belgian Grand Prix , both of which he finished in third place. Kubica regularly scored points and only failed to make it into the final section of qualifying at the last Grand Prix in Abu Dhabi . In the overall standings he finished eighth with 142 points at the end of the season.

2011

After Kubica had already taken part in a number of rally events as a guest starter in 2010, Renault gave him permission to take part in the Ronde di Andora in Italy on February 6, 2011 with a Škoda Fabia S2000 before the 2011 Formula 1 season . Kubica had an accident during the first special stage. He went off the track in Testico and crashed into a crash barrier at high speed, which bored into the car. While his copilot Jakub Gerber was uninjured, Kubica sustained a serious hand injury as well as numerous broken arms and legs and was taken to a clinic by helicopter. In an emergency operation, the doctors treated his right hand. Kubica, who had achieved the fastest time of the week in the Formula 1 test drives that had taken place a week earlier, was out of action for the entire 2011 season due to injury and was represented by Nick Heidfeld and Bruno Senna .

Until 2012, Kubica was under contract with Renault, who from 2012 used the chassis name Lotus . At the end of November 2011, however, Kubica announced that he would not be fit for the 2012 season opener. In his recovery phase, he suffered another accident on January 11, 2012. While walking, he slipped on a sheet of ice and broke his right leg, which had already been injured in his rally accident.

2017

After a six-year break from Formula 1, Kubica drove the Lotus E20 in a test organized by Renault in Valencia in June 2017 . He reeled 115 laps, but was skeptical after the test: "I have mixed feelings. I'm proud of what I achieved [in the test]. But it also showed what I lost."

On July 24, 2017, the Renault Sport F1 Team announced that Kubica would be driving test drives for the team in the test after the 2017 Hungarian Grand Prix . After the US Grand Prix , he was allowed to test in the Williams FW36 . Following the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix , he was allowed to take part in test drives again in the FW40 .

Williams (2018-2019)

2018

In January 2018 it was announced that Kubica had signed a contract with Williams as a replacement and development driver.

In March 2018, Kubica took part in the pre-season test drives for Williams alongside his teammates Lance Stroll and Sergei Sirotkin . He also completed three training assignments for the Williams team.

2019

Williams announced ahead of the 2018 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix that Kubica would become the team's regular 2019 driver. He chose the 88 as his permanent starting number. At the German Grand Prix he picked up his first World Championship point after his comeback in tenth place. This was also the first and only championship point for the Williams team in the entire season. He left the team at the end of the year, which he announced at the Singapore Grand Prix . At the end of the season he finished 19th overall.

WRC2 (2013)

In the 2013 season, Kubica competed for the Citroën Total World Rally Team at four events of the European Rally Championship and seven events of the World Rally Championship in the WRC-2 classification.

WRC (2014-2016)

In the 2014 season, Kubica started for the English RK M-Sport World Rally Team in the higher-ranking WRC class, the rally premier class. In his first race with the Ford Fiesta RS WRC, Kubica was in first place in the overall classification after winning the first two special stages of the 82nd Monte Carlo Rally . After the entire first day, Kubica was in third place in the ranking. After an accident in the ninth special stage, Kubica and his co-driver Maciej Szczepaniak had to retire because the car could no longer be repaired. "The grip suddenly changed," said Kubica, describing the mishap after around 32 kilometers of special stage 9. He attributed this accident to his great disadvantage compared to the rest of the field. He was also unlucky at the Rally Sweden and had to give up the rally after several incidents. Overall, Kubica dropped out at six of thirteen world championship races, mostly due to accidents he was responsible for. He classified himself outside the world championship points in four rallies. Only in Argentina , Italy and Australia did he reach positions in the top ten, which at the end of the season resulted in World Cup rank 16.

statistics

Career stations

1995-2000: karting 2001: Italian Formula Renault (13th place) 2001: Formula Renault 2.0 Eurocup (14th place) 2002: Italian Formula Renault (2nd place) 2002: Formula Renault 2.0 Eurocup (7th place) 2003 : Formula 3 Euro Series (12th place)

2004 : Formula 3 Euro Series (7th place) 2005: Formula Renault 3.5 (champion) 2005 : Formula 1 (test driver) 2006 : Formula 1 (16th place) 2007 : Formula 1 (6th place) 2008 : Formula 1 (4th place)

2009 : Formula 1 (14th place) 2010 : Formula 1 (8th place) 2013 : Rally (13th place) 2014 : rally 2018 : Formula 1 (test driver) 2019 : Formula 1 (19th place)

Individual results in the Formula 3 Euro Series

year	team	engine	1	2	3	4th	5	6th	7th	8th	9	10	11	12	13	14th	15th	16	17th	18th	19th	20th	Points	rank
2003	Prema Powerteam	Opel	HO1		ADR		PAU		NOR		LMS		ONLY		SPI		ZAN		HO2		LIKE		31	12.
									1	2	27 *	7th	9	6th	11	DNF	7th	24 *	24 *	10	4th	8th
2004	Mücke Motorsport	Mercedes Benz	HO1		EST		ADR		PAU		NOR		LIKE		ONLY		ZAN		BRN		HO2		53	7th
			6th	7th	9	23	17th	DNF	3	2	19 *	4th	9	5	5	2	8th	5	10	8th	4th	7th

Statistics in the Formula 1 World Championship

Grand Prix victory

• 2008:  Canada  ( Montréal )

general overview

Status: end of season 2019

season	team	chassis	engine	run	Victories	Second	Third	Poles	nice Race laps	Points	WM-Pos.
2006	BMW Sauber F1 Team	BMW Sauber F1.06	BMW 2.4 V8	6th	-	-	1	-	-	6th	16.
2007	BMW Sauber F1 Team	BMW Sauber F1.07	BMW 2.4 V8	16	-	-	-	-	-	39	6th
2008	BMW Sauber F1 Team	BMW Sauber F1.08	BMW 2.4 V8	18th	1	3	3	1	-	75	4th
2009	BMW Sauber F1 Team	BMW Sauber F1.09	BMW 2.4 V8	17th	-	1	-	-	-	17th	14th
2010	Renault F1 Team	Renault R30	Renault 2.4 V8	19th	-	1	2	-	1	136	8th.
2019	ROKiT Williams Racing	Williams FW42	Mercedes 1.6 V6 Turbo	21st	-	-	-	-	-	1	19th
total				97	1	5	6th	1	1	274

Single results

season	1	2	3	4th	5	6th	7th	8th	9	10	11	12	13	14th	15th	16	17th	18th	19th	20th	21st	22nd	23	24
2006
	TD	TD	TD	TD	TD	TD	TD	TD	TD	TD	TD	TD	DSQ	12	3	13	9	9
2007
	DNF	18th	6th	4th	5	DNF	INJ	4th	4th	7th	5	8th	5	9	7th	DNF	5
2008
	DNF	2	3	4th	4th	2	1	5	DNF	7th	8th	3	6th	3	11	2	6th	11
2009
	14 *	DNF	13	18th	11	DNF	7th	13	14th	13	8th	4th	DNF	8th	9	2	10
2010
	11	2	4th	5	8th	3	6th	7th	5	DNF	7th	DNF	3	8th	7th	DNF	5	9	5
2019
	17th	16	17th	16	18th	18th	18th	18th	20th	16	10	19th	17th	17th	16	DNF	17th	18th	DNF	16	19th

Legend
colour	abbreviation	meaning
gold	-	victory
silver	-	2nd place
bronze	-	3rd place
green	-	Placement in the points
blue	-	Classified outside the point ranks
violet	DNF	Race not finished (did not finish)
	NC	not classified
red	DNQ	did not qualify
	DNPQ	failed in pre-qualification (did not pre-qualify)
black	DSQ	disqualified
White	DNS	not at the start (did not start)
	WD	withdrawn
Light Blue	PO	only participated in the training (practiced only)
	TD	Friday test driver
without	DNP	did not participate in the training (did not practice)
	INJ	injured or sick
	EX	excluded
	DNA	did not arrive
	C.	Race canceled
		no participation in the World Cup
other	P / bold	Pole position
	SR / italic	Fastest race lap
	*	not at the finish, but counted due to the distance covered
	()	Streak results
	underlined	Leader in the overall standings

Individual results in the WRC

year	team	vehicle	1	2	3	4th	5	6th	7th	8th	9	10	11	12	13	Points	rank
2013	Abu Dhabi Citroën Total World Rally Team	Citroën DS3 WRC	MON	SWE	MEX	POR	ARG	GRE	ITA	FIN	DEU	OUT	FRA	ESP	GBR	18th	13.
			-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	DNF
2014	RK M-Sport World Rally Team	Ford Fiesta RS WRC	MON	SWE	MEX	POR	ARG	ITA	POLE	FIN	DEU	OUT	FRA	ESP	GBR	14th	16.
			DNF	DNF	DNF	DNF	6th	8th	20th	34	DNF	9	DNF	17th	11
2015	RK M-Sport World Rally Team	Ford Fiesta RS WRC	MON	SWE	MEX	ARG	POR	ITA	POLE	FIN	DEU	OUT	FRA	ESP	GBR	11	12.
			DNF	19th	18th	-	9	30th	8th	DNF	35	-	22nd	11	9

Web links

Commons : Robert Kubica  - collection of images, videos and audio files

 Wikinews: Genoa: Serious rally accident by Formula 1 driver Robert Kubica  - news

• Official website of Robert Kubica (Polish / English)

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Robert Kupica. In: Fakt.pl. Retrieved May 17, 2019 (Polish). 
2. ↑ "One week of uncertainty about hand" (Motorsport-Magazin.com on February 6, 2011)
3. ^ "Serious accident in Formula 1 races" ( Memento from September 29, 2007 in the Internet Archive ) (Financial Times Deutschland Online on June 10, 2007)
4. ↑ ^{a b} Formula 1 - Kubica accident investigated , article motorsport-magazin.com from June 20, 2007, accessed on July 7, 2014.
5. ↑ "Kubica must watch" (Motorsport-Total.com on June 14, 2007)
6. ↑ "Official: Kubica signs with Renault" (Motorsport-Total.com on October 7, 2009)
7. ↑ "Renault dissatisfied: More would have been possible" (Motorsport-Total.com on November 13, 2010)
8. ^ "Doctors can save Kubica's hand in emergency surgery" (Welt.de on February 7, 2011)
9. ↑ "Kubica's hand: The fear continues" (Motorsport-Total.com on February 7, 2011)
10. ^ "Renault: Kubica will stay until 2012!" (Motorsport-Total.com on July 7, 2010)
11. ↑ "Renault confirms: Kubica not yet fit for 2012" (Motorsport-Total.com on November 23, 2011)
12. ↑ "Kubica: Broken leg after falling on ice plate" (Motorsport-Total.com on January 11, 2012)
13. ^ [Ruez, Michael] Robert Kubica: Mixed feelings after the F1 test with Renault . In: Motorsport.com . ( motorsport.com [accessed July 24, 2017]).
14. ^ [Ruez, Michael] Kubica to drive 2017 Renault in F1's post-Hungary test . In: Formula 1® - The Official F1® Website . ( formula1.com [accessed July 24, 2017]).
15. ↑ [1] (Motorsport-Total.com on September 19, 2019)
16. ↑ FAZ Motorsport: Robert Kubica: "Learn, learn, learn"
17. ^ "Rallye Monte Carlo" (Motorsport-Total.com on January 16, 2014)
18. ↑ "Kubica sets a big exclamation mark with best times" (Motorsport-Total.com on January 20, 2014)